First Night ’94 pin found in a sewing basket from the Rock Rest Tourist Home: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A First Night ’94 pin found in a sewing basket from the Rock Rest Tourist Home. The pinback button is rectangular in shape with rounded corners. The front is primarily white with purple, pink, orange, and yellow text, and graphics. At the center of the button is a graphic of a purple rectangle framed with a band of yellow and orange alternating triangles. The rectangular frame is overlaid with graphics that include a Mardi Gras style half mask, a pair of hands, and a horn. Purple text printed at the top reads [PORTSMOUTH] and [FiRST / NigHT / 94] at the bottom. The back of the pinback button is silver toned, plain and features a vertically oriented pinback. Printed in small black text along one edge of the button is the text [MR. BUTTON PRODUCTS INC. BOX 68359, INDPLS, IN 46268-0359].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1994
• Manufactured by: Mr. Button Products, Inc., American, founded 1973
• Distributed by: Pro Portsmouth, Inc., American, founded 1977
• Owned by: Clayton Sinclair, American
• Owned by: Hazel Sinclair, American
• Subject of: First Night, Inc., American, founded 1975
• Subject of: Rock Rest Tourist Home, American, 1948 - 1976
• Type: buttons (information artifacts)
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product) and plastic with metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 2 11/16 × 1 11/16 × 3/16 in. (6.9 × 4.3 × 0.5 cm)
• Place collected: Kittery, York County, Maine, United States, North and Central America
• Place made: Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, United States, North and Central America
• Place used: Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Black Enterprise
• Topic: Black interiors
• Topic: Business
• Topic: Holidays and festivals
• Topic: Recreation
• Topic: Segregation
• Topic: Travel
• Object number: 2011.12.9.4
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail, Inc.
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.