30 • MAY 2026 • PPAI A reproduction of a William Jennings Bryan-John Kern campaign button for the 1908 presidential election. (courtesy of Bankers Advertising) which they would put into a brass shell and wear on their lapel. They also wore silk ribbons with the candidate’s name and a message. “It wasn’t until 1896 when manufacturers invented the ability to mass-produce buttons,” Lee says, “and that changed everything.” That’s the year New Jersey-based supplier Whitehead & Hoag patented the celluloid pinback button, which was used in the 1896 presidential campaign of William McKinley. National advertisers realized buttons could display something more commercial than just political figures, and Whitehead & Hoag monopolized that business for the early part of the 20th century. (Co-founder Benjamin Whitehead was elected the first president of PPAI, then known as the National Association of Advertising Novelty Manufacturers, in 1904.) As manufacturing scaled, so did U.S. imagery in advertising. Calendars, paper fans, trading cards, glassware and other products were decorated with the American flag, the bald eagle and other patriotic symbols. ‘We Can Do It!’ In 1917, the nation entered World War I, which necessitated some adjustment in the branded merch industry. Steel shortages caused several firms like Iowabased distributor Vernon (founded in 1902) to temporarily discontinue manufacturing and concentrate instead on the distribution side, according to PPAI records. As for suppliers, many of them added a new client – the U.S. armed forces. Merch became a tool for mobilization: Liberty Loan campaign buttons, pins and posters; factory incentive awards; and products decked out in red, white and blue or emblazoned with military insignia were all in high demand. If World War I marked the beginning of companies relying upon patriotic branding, then World War II solidified it as a powerful marketing strategy. With the line between government propaganda and commercial promotion blurred, wartime messaging became central to corporate identity. For example, Ohio-based distributor Kaeser & Blair (founded in 1894) offered a catalog of patriotic products, including war ration books and stationery. Americans received these books, which contained stamps for purchasing gas, meat, sugar, tires and other rationed items, to manage resources during the war effort. And once again, the merch industry made necessary adjustments to support the war effort. Stebco Products, a Chicago-based manufacturer of briefcases, started turning out boxes for infantry field telephones, instrument cases for Air Corps bombardiers and flyers’ clothing bags. To its line of cloth products, Cincinnatibased supplier Kemper-Thomas Co., one of the 12 charter members of PPAI, added civilian gas masks and Marine Corps fatigue caps. Another charter member, Minnesota-based distributor Brown & Bigelow, offered a line of proximity fuses for artillery shells. Before New Jersey-based supplier Peerless Umbrella became synonymous with umbrellas, the company produced parachutes for the military during WWII. Vernon manufactured ammunition boxes and sold window blackout kits for homes and businesses on the East and West coasts to deter shelling from offshore German U-boats during World War II. In March 1944, Vernon was honored for an “outstanding production contribution to the war effort” and presented with the Army Ordnance flag, described as a “symbol of the Army’s gratitude for work performed on the home front.” At the award presentation, Major Gordon Fowler urged Must Read | America Was Branded From The Start A war ration book advertisement posted around 1944 (courtesy of Kaeser & Blair) As manufacturing scaled, so did U.S. imagery in advertising. Calendars, paper fans, trading cards, glassware and other products were decorated with the American flag, the bald eagle and other patriotic symbols.
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