Somehow I became the curator of my fathers’ eclectic button collection. It’s actually far less of a button collection and more of a small briefcase of all things buttons.
There is an impressive number of Northeast South Dakota buttons – from Snow Queen Festival buttons dating back to 1956 to Cresbard Golden Jubilee and Aberdeen Diamond Jubilees dating back to the same era.
One of my favorites is a 1940 Dakota Days button boasting “5000 Coyotes”.
There are handfuls of area sports buttons, PEP Cereal WWII Military pinbacks, and a pile of Red Cross buttons from around the same time.
Some of the buttons I enjoy looking at the most are those from South Dakota’s political contests. The old ones are neat to look at, but buttons from those people I knew bring back some great memories. I have 3 buttons from Governor’s I’ve met over the years.
There is a George Mickelson Inaugural button from 1987. One of my first trips to Pierre for SDPB was to broadcast an inaugural. It brings back many memories of a big man with a big, hearty laugh. Much simpler times back then even on the South Dakota political landscape.
