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"I'M THE GUY" (AND RELATED) CIGARETTE / TOBACCO PREMIUM PINBACK BUTTONS |
HOME (Enola Gaia) |
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Brought To You By: Randall Whitaker
EGcomComm@aol.com
Copyright © 1999, 2001 Randall Whitaker
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ABOUT THE PINBACKS | Introduction | Issuers | Pinback Features | |||||||||||
SERIES LISTINGS |
7/8" Diameter "I'm the Guy" |
7/8" Diameter Non-"Guy" |
1.25" Diameter Non-"Guy" |
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THIS WEB PAGE: |
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LAST UPDATE: |
19 April 2008
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INTRODUCTION / OVERVIEW |
Sometime around 1970, I was browsing through an antique store in Tennessee. My eye was drawn to a faded red pinback button upon which was written the surreal caption: "I'm the Guy Who Put Whiskers on Catfish". Well, I just had to buy it... Over the years, I found a few more such pins here and there in antique stores and at exhibitions. Finally, I just gave in and began collecting them in earnest. After about 30 years now, I've accumulated a collection of over 1600 specimens representing more than 500 distinct captions. There are two types of "I'm the Guy" buttons. One type has the comic caption plus a cartoon picture (often a picture of a goofy character with no explicit linkage to the caption). Several cartoonists of the day (including Rube Goldberg, who originated the "I'm the guy..." catchphrase) drew the pictures for these pinbacks. Most commonly, these pictures are in two or three colors. Less commonly, there are black-on-white pictures (sometimes duplicates of others seen elsewhere (in later years?) in color). As I understand it, the rarest ones are those which are two-tone white-on-dark format. Owing to their graphics, their colors, and the association with well-known cartoonists of the period, the cartoon pinbacks are quite "collectible". However, I simply don't like them, and I collect only the second type of "Guy" buttons -- those with text-only captions typically printed in white letters on a darker colored background.
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The Phrase "I'm The Guy" |
It was the cartoonist / humorist Rube Goldberg who coined the gag phrase "I'm the guy who...." circa 1910. As I understand it, this was a stock saying by a character in a comic strip Goldberg drew. The phrase became very popular, and Goldberg elaborated it over time. He was even co-author of a song entitled "I'm the Guy", whose lyrics were largely comprised of variations on this catchphrase.
NOTE: The cartoon at the head of this Webpage is based on the cover Goldberg drew for the song's sheet music.
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COMPANIES ISSUING THESE PINBACKS |
These pinbacks were given out as premiums with the following tobacco products:
The Chesterfield brand is the only one to survive to the present day. In the following subsections, the other issuing brands are briefly introduced... |
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Hassan Cigarettes
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Hassan Cork-Tip Cigarettes was a prolific issuer of diverse premiums. To judge from the available specimens, they were perhaps (along with Tokio) the predominant issuers of the related cartoon pinbacks.
With regard to the series featured here, Hassan issued 7/8" diameter pinbacks.
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Tokio Cigarettes
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Tokio Cigarettes was the source for a number of premiums during the early part of the 20th Century. With regard to this series of pinbacks, Tokio issued only 7/8" diameter specimens.
Tokio was also one of the most prolific issuers of the 7/8" cartoon pinbacks displaying comic art by famous cartoonists of the day. |
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Favorite Cigarettes
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Favorite Straight-Cut Cigarettes were produced by the Cameron & Cameron Company. This company only issued 7/8" diameter pinbacks as premiums (in this series). |
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Obak Cigarettes
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Obak Mouthpiece Cigarettes is best known as the issuer for some of the most beautifully crafted baseball cards of the early 20th Century. Their baseball subjects were focused on the West Coast minor league teams (e.g., from the Pacific Coast League).
With regard to this series of pinbacks, Obak was an issuer of 7/8" diameter specimens in red, blue, and green. |
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Clix Cigarettes
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Clix Cigarettes is one of the tobacco companies about which I know the least. Except for the tiny image in the ad shown on the left, I've never seen any specimen of one of their cigarette packages.
Clix issued 7/8" diameter pinbacks in this series. |
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Perfection Cigarettes
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Perfection Cigarettes was one of the more prolific issuers of the text-only pinbacks featured in this Webpage.
Their cigarette packages went through multiple variations, as illustrated by the photos shown here.
In addition to issuing a wide variety of the 7/8" diameter specimens, Perfection is the only company known to have issued the limited series of 1.25" diameter lithographed pinbacks.
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Picayune Cigarettes
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Picayune Cigarettes were a Southern regional brand touted as "The Pride of New Orleans". Production of Picayune's cigarettes continued at least as late as the 1960's, and perhaps even later (as an occasional novelty brand).
Pinbacks issued by Picayune are among the most rare specimens in this series. Picayune-issued pinbacks are of 7/8" diameter. |
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Red Lion Chewing Tobacco
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Red Lion Plug Tobacco is the only non-cigarette brand known to have issued pinbacks in the series featured here.
Pinbacks issued by Red Lion are the rarest specimens in this series. A Red Lion tobacco tag (shown at left) is much more commonly encountered than their pinback premiums. Red Lion-issued pinbacks are of 7/8" diameter. |
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PINBACK FEATURES |
This section describes some of the characteristics of this series of pinback buttons.
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Size: |
The vast majority of pinbacks issued in these series are approximately 7/8" (0.875") in diameter. A very limited series of larger buttons (approximately 1.25" diameter) were issued by Perfection Cigarettes (Factory No. 42, North Carolina). |
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Vintage / Age: |
I honestly don't know the time span during which these buttons (of either size) were issued. To the best of my understanding, Rube Goldberg coined the "I'm the Guy" phrase (at least as a popular catchphrase) circa 1910. That (one would think) would be the earliest year in which any pinbacks with that phrase would have appeared.
I've often wondered if the "non-Guy" buttons were already in circulation by that time. Similar comic sayings appeared on (black-on-white) pinback buttons issued by High Admiral and Sweet Caporal cigarette companies around the turn of the century. It is conceivable that the 7/8" buttons were already in circulation at the time the "I'm the Guy" phrase caught on, and that the "Guy" captions were simply added as time went on. It must be pointed out that some of the slogans appearing on the "non-Guy" pinbacks I collect appeared earlier on the High Admiral and/or Sweet Caporal pinbacks.
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Colors: |
The 7/8" diameter buttons were issued in three colors. In decreasing order of number issued (i.e., increasing rarity), they are:
The 1.25" diameter buttons were issued in blue and red only. I don't know if one color was more common than the other (or even if there were different color versions of the same button / caption). All the large specimens I've seen were of one color per given caption, and most of these specimens were blue.
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Manufacturers: |
The vast majority of pinbacks issued in these series were manufactured by the oldest and largest producer of pinback buttons in the first half of the 20th Century - Whitehead and Hoag Company of Newark, New Jersey. A minority of these pinbacks were manufactured by Phelps and Sons.
Some specimens in this series (most particularly the 1.25" diameter ones issued exclusively by Perfection Cigarettes) do not indicate the pinback manufacturer on the back paper. In these cases, the factory listed would appear to be the cigarette factory which issued the specimen. This means that such specimens might have been manufactured by companies other than Whitehead & Hoag or Phelps & Sons.
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Printing Type: |
The vast majority of pinbacks issued in these series are of celluloid construction - i.e., they have a printed celluloid face overlaid onto a metal back. A minority of the 7/8" diameter pinbacks are of lithographed construction - i.e., the caption is lithographed directly onto a metal face. All the lithographed specimens of this size I've seen have been within the "I'm the Guy" series.
All the 1.25" diameter Perfection pinbacks I've seen are lithographed.
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LISTINGS OF PINBACK BUTTONS (BY CAPTION) |
This document lists the pinback buttons by caption. See the individual Sections for details on the alphabetical arrangement of the listings. Where there are variations (e.g., in phrasing or spelling) of a single caption, they are listed separately. The listings are a combination of the buttons in my collection plus specimens cited in reputable dealers' catalogs and other documentation I consider reliable. I'm not sure anyone is really certain how many of these buttons exist(-ed). The most complete documentary inventory I've ever seen listed a total of 359 known pinbacks (of all three varieties listed here). My own collection exceeds that number by a considerable margin, even though it (still) does not include some specimens listed in that cited document.
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7/8" DIAMETER PINBACKS WITH CAPTIONS READING: "I'm the guy who.../that.../ put...." |
In this section ("I'm the Guy"), the listings are arranged alphabetically by first key word occurring after the "I'm the guy...." preface.
The spelling and grammar reflected in these listings are exactly as they appear on known pinback specimens (or as cited for those few I've never actually seen). |
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air in airships ale in Yale arms in the army banks on the Wabash bars in Bar Harbor bars in the jail bats in the Battery battle in battleships beams in moonbeams beans in Boston bells in Belfast bells in Belgium block in Block Island bored holes in macaroni bow in the rainbow boy in boycott brook in Brooklyn broke the record built the ark built the Canal built the pike to Pike's Peak built the pyramids built the subway bull in Spain bums in bumblebees bunk in Bunker Hill buns in bourbon buns on bunions butter in butterflies buzzards in Buzzards Bay cab in cabbage came back can in Kansas cans in Canada cantaloupe cash in cash registers cat in catsup cats in catnip cats in the Catskills chat in Chattanooga chew in gum clams in the chowder cloves in clover coke in cocoa collars in Colorado con in bacon con in Congress cooked Dr. Cook cough in coffee cracks in crackers cream on milk crust on pies current in electricity cyclones in Kansas dam in Amsterdam descended from Adam devil to sleep did in didn't discovered America discovered baseball discovered the East River docked the doctors doll in dollars done it all (small print) done it all (large print) dots on the dice dough in bread dough in doughnuts drum in drummers dub in Dublin dug the big ditch dug the pit in Pittsburg eats the dates on calendars erected the North Pole eyes in eyelets eyes in potatoes figs in figures fire in firewater flies in baseballs
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flies in butterflies fly on fly paper foam on beer fogs in London force in the police force found the fault in asphalt found the oyster in the stew frisk in Frisco gas in gasoline germs in Germany gin in Virginia gloves in Gloversville go in Chicago gold in the Golden Gate graft in telegraph grapes in grapefruit guns in gunboats guy in geyser ham in Hamlet hands on the clock hats in Manhattan heads on tacks heat in the sun held five aces hips in the Hippodrome hips on hurrahs hobbles in skirts hoboes in Hoboken hoes in Idaho holes in cheese hook in hookworms hop in hops hops in beer hops in grasshoppers horns on the bull horses in horseradish hump on camels I'm the guy ice in the Arctic ice in the Artic (sic) Indians in Indiana invented hot air isle in Carlisle jags in moonshine Japs in Japan joker in the deck junk in junkshops key in whiskey kids gloves land in Maryland law in lawyers leaps in leap year licked the liquor lime in the limelight liver in Liverpool made a barn dance made a flush made Long Island Sound made the Board Walk made the cape for Cape Cod made the cat fish made the cow slip made the fuss made the horse fly made the key to Key West made the moon shine made the scales for fish made the star light made the wash stand made William Tell makes it rain when it rains man in Manhattan man in the moon mark in Denmark married Mississippi might in dynamite milk in cocoanuts milk in the Milky Way mill in Milwaukee mosquitos in Jersey mush in mushrooms mutt in mutton never told a lie
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news in newspapers noise in Illinois noise in sound nominated the president notes in music oaks in Oakland oats in oatmeal oil in oil cloth OK in Oklahoma one in none onions in Bermuda oyster in the stew oysters in Oyster Bay pains in windows pay in pay day pencil in Pennsylvania pep in pepper pips in pippins poles on tadpoles pop in popcorn pork on the hog port in Newport prince in Princeton raised the rumpus rats in the Rathskeller rest in restaurants ring around the moon rock in Rockaway rope in Europe rush in Russia S in stung saint in Saint Louis salt in the ocean sand in the desert sand in Sandusky saw in Arkansas scotch in Scotchmen sea in Seattle settled the strike shamrock in Ireland shells on the seashore shine in sunshine silk in silkworms sings in Sing Sing snakes in Ireland sneezes in snuff speed in autos speed in snails sponge in spongecake spring in Springfield stamps on letters stars on star fish started pictures moving started something steam in steamboats stickers on gooseberries straw in strawberries strings in string beans tax in taxicabs that saw the salad dressing that started something that strings beans that's chief of mischief tights on sausages toads on toadstools toes in tomatoes took the ants out of the Giants trot in turkey trot trunks on elephants tuck in Kentucky Turk in Turkey twinkle in the stars wait in waiters wall in Wall Street warts on pickles warts on toads wash in wash stand watched the fire escape water in rain water in stocks water in watermelons whiskers on catfish wish in wishbones won Cape Race
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NON - "I'M THE GUY" PINBACKS (7/8" DIAMETER) from the same / similar series |
In this section I've listed those 7/8" diameter pinbacks which were issued by the same tobacco / cigarette companies, but which have captions other than "I'm the Guy..."
The listings are arranged alphabetically by the first word in the entire caption. |
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A boob is an awful thing Ain't he cute, he's only six Ain't I the sunny boy? All Hunkey Dory All right, old sport And he never came back Any fool can work Are you a Mason? Ask me Ask me something easy Ask my name Aw, can it Aw, close up Aw - come off Aw, Kid McCoy Aw, lean on your breakfast Back out, kid Be careful Be reasonable! Beat it Beat it while your shoes are good Believe me Bring one Call me early, mother dear Call me up some rainy afternoon Calm yourself Can it Cheer up Cheer up! The worst is yet to come Cheer up There'll be another day Cheese it Choke it off Come across Come again, I don't get you Come off the perch Come to life Cut that out Cut that stuff Did you speak? Did your father cut your hair? Do it now Do me no favors Do you follow me? Do you get me? Don't be a quitter Don't bother me Don't care if I do Don't get mad Don't mention it Don't say it just wink Don't say yes to everybody Don't smile if it hurts you Don't spit in the walk Easy money Easy on the ruff stuff Eh? Every dog has his day Every little bit added, makes a little bit more Everybody works but father Everybody's doin' it Everybody's doing it Excuse me! Fade away! Farewell, Claude Fiddle up Fire away! For Auld Lang Syne For he's a jolly good fellow For the love of Mike! Funny as a crutch Gee - a pipin Gee what a name Gee what a nerve Gee whiz! I'm glad I'm free Gee you're a lucky guy Get a horse! Get on the band wagon Get on the job Get one Get out Get the hook Get wise Get your hair cut Give it a drink Give me liberty or give me death Give that calf more rope Go tell your mother Going some Good morning, Judge Good night Good night! Good night! William Hail to the Chief Hands off! Hands up Has anybody here seen Kelly? Have a care Have a heart! Have courage Have you a sister He flew the coop Hello Bill Hello! Bill Hey! Quit that Hire a hall! Hit him with a brick Hock it kid, it's got a beard on
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Hold my hand till the car comes Home was never like this How about cher? How be ye? How old is Ann? How's chances I am busy I am surprised I call you I could love a girl with money I don't get your drift - snow again I don't think I feel as fine as a fiddle I got cha, Steve I had a dollar once I have you Stephen I love my own town but Oh, you Oshkosh I love you I make my own ice I never flirt I never worked I should worry? I want a home I want to know I went to night school I will be a sister to you I'd like to believe yer I'll get your goat I'm a bear cat I'm a dazzler, are you? I'm a happy guy I'm all in but the buttons I'm from Missouri I'm married now I'm on my way I'm on to you I'm one of the kids from Goat Island I'm single I'm stuck on you I'm the boy I'm the guy I'm the butte from Montana I'm the keeper of the Golden Gate I'm yours until Niagara Falls I've got my eyes on you I've got your number If time were money I'd be a millionaire If you love me grin Is everybody happy? Is that your dog? It can't be done without a makeup It's a bear It's a long lane that has no turning It's a pleasure to have a friend like you It's all to the mustard Just like that Keep it dark Keep kool Keep moving, you Tigers Keep out Keep the change Kwit cher kicken Lead me to it Leave it to me Lend me a dime Let George do it Let me tell you something Let's be friends Let's take a joy ride Licked to a frazzle Light up, your pipe's out Looks like an early fall Make a noise like a hoop and roll away May I see you home Maybe you think I'm happy Me for the turkey trot My foot slipped My hat's in the ring My wife won't let me My word Naw, I ain't married Nice work, kid Nix, on that! No wedding bells for me Nobody loves a fat man Nobody loves me Not on your life Nothing to it Now everybody is happy Now will you be good Nuff ced O.U. chicken Officer, call a cop Officer, he's in again Oh! Dry up Oh! I just love work Oh Joy Oh, Mama Oh my yes Oh, piffle! Oh! That mysterious rag Oh, you! Oh! You baby doll Oh! You Cubs Oh, you Giants Oh, you Indians
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Oh, you kid Oh, you ki-id Oh, you Pirates On your way Over the river for yours Pipe the gink! Will yer Pony up Pretty nifty Pull your head in Put an egg in your shoe and beat it Put that in your pipe and smoke it Quick, Watson the needle Quit yer kiddin' R U Happy? Right off the bat Ring the bell, I'll buy Roll your hoop Sand your tracks your slipping Say! Give us a knock down SH-H Don't Wake Me Up Shake 'em up Shake it up Shake well before using Shop early Short a nickel Show me Sic 'em Tige, they're city chaps Sic him kid, he bit your father Slam it - old boy slam it 'Smatter Pop Smoke up. Sneeze, your brain is dusty So I see Some class, eh? Some class here Some hitter Somebody start something Something doing Stick out your ears, you're falling through your collar Stick to it, kid Sure Mike Surest thing you know Take a chance, there's two out Take a fall out of yourself Take a little tip from Dad Tell it to Sweeney Tell it to Sweeny Tell it to the cop That'll be about all That gets my goat That's a hot one That's the least of my worries That's what they all say The booby hatch for yours Them's harsh words, sport There are others There's a good time coming There's a ring around the moon They shall not suffer They're after me Think twice before you speak This is on me Thought I was broke Tie the bull outside Toot your horn United we stand, divided we fall U.R.A.J. Vote for me We won't go home "til morning Well, I guess not, white hope Well, what do you know about that? What are you afraid of What's up? What's your right name? Wheels! Wheels! Wheels! Whisper It Who are you? Who's all right? Who's your friend? Whoever heard of you Whoops M'Dear Why should I worry? Will see you later Will you ever stop kicking Wipe your chin Y.R.U. sad? Yep! Nothing to do till tomorrow Yes, I will not Yes you will nit You are all right You bet cher life You get me nervous You know me, Bill You look the part You make me tired You poor boob You're a lucky guy You're a peach You're crazy in the head You're flying high You're in the wrong pew You're next You're on, kiddo You're talking through your hat You're the candy kid You're the goat You're the whole show You're wasting time Your Treat Nit Zip! Goes another nickel
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LARGE FORMAT (1.25" DIAMETER) Pinbacks |
These are more limited edition buttons from the same basic series. All the ones I've seen come from Perfection Cigarettes, Factory No. 42, North Carolina. These are more rare than the other (7/8" diameter) pinbacks.
All the 1.25" diameter specimens I've seen are lithographed (as opposed to celluloid, as are the majority of the 7/8" specimens). According to an antique / collectibles dealer who's dealt extensively in these buttons, there are only 20 known 1.25" diameter pinbacks (as distinguished by caption). However, his listing, combined with the 1.25" Perfection buttons in my possession, yield the following list of more than 20: |
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Be careful Calm yourself Do it now Do you follow me Do you get me Excuse me Get on the job Going some I got cha, Steve
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I have you Stephen I should worry I'm from Missouri Keep the change Lead me to it Maybe you think I'm happy Officer call a cop Officer he's in again Oh! You baby doll
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Oh you kid Quit your kiddin Roll your hoop Show me That'll be about all The smoothest There are others
To-morrow, to-day will be yesterday
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ABOUT THE PINBACKS | Introduction | Issuers | Pinback Features | |||||||||||
SERIES LISTINGS |
7/8" Diameter "I'm the Guy" |
7/8" Diameter Non-"Guy" |
1.25" Diameter Non-"Guy" |
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Copyright © 1999, 2001 Randall Whitaker | ![]() |