There are two sizes. The
7/8 inch pin is made with a paper print covered with celluloid, and the 1 1/4
inch pin is lithographed directly on the tin.
Most likely, neither button was produced for campaign purposes. In fact, many companies issued "Tie the bull outside" pins that either had no illustration at all, or depicted a bovine bull. However, Bud Fisher was one of several cartoonists who
were contracted around 1912 (Probably by Whitehead & Hoag company of Newark) to produce cartoons that illustrate popular
conversational phrases of the day on buttons that would be issued by a tobacco company. Apparently,
Bud Fisher found the Progressive Party's symbolic bull moose irresistible to
illustrate the phrase, "Tie that bull outside."
I eventually discovered more Mutt and Jeff pins. Here are a few:
I
began to wonder just how many different Mutt and Jeff buttons there are. A book called Buttons in Sets 1896-1972, by Marshall N. Levin and Theodore L.
Hake, mentions both sets under the heading, "Comic Cartoons. It identifies the 7/8 inch set as issued by
Hassan and Tokio cigarettes and manufactured by Whitehead & and Hoag of Newark,
New Jersey. Ehrman, and T. J. Gleason.
It further states that other cartoonists including Rube Goldberg, TAD,
Hal Hoffman, George Herriman, George McManus, Tom McNamara, Rudolph Dirks, TEP,
Gus Mager, HBM, and C.M. Payne contributed to more than 290 multicolor designs
and over 170 black and white pins. So far, I have seen 27 phrases that were illustrated with Bud Fisher drawings on 7/8-inch color pins.
According
to Levin and Hake, the manufacturer of the 1 1/4 inch set is not identified. The back of each 1 1/4 inch badge contains
the legend "Factory No. 30, 2nd District New York." They state that 48 designs had been seen, and
that artists include Bud Fisher, Rube Goldberg, and TAD. The 48 known phrases are listed as well.
I
am interested, of course, only in the badges designed by Bud Fisher for the two
sets, and I have been searching for "Mutt and Jeff buttons" on the
internet for a few years now. I decided
I could obtain more results by searching the for each of the 48 known phrases as
well. That's when I learned that Sweet
Caporal Cigarettes issued the cartoon phrases on cigarette cards. These cards title the group "Mutt and
Jeff Series." They state that there
are "over 250 designs," and they tie Sweet Caporal Cigarettes to
Factory No. 30.
Since the name,
"Mutt and Jeff Series," is applied to a set that includes pins and
cards designed by the other cartoonists, I plan to refer to my subset of the
series as "Bud Fisher pins."
Although
I now know a lot more about my Bud Fisher pins, I still don't know how many
there are. Here is a list of the phrases that I know were
illustrated by Bud Fisher:
1. Aw! Stick around
awhile
2. Beat it!*
3. Can it!*
4. Cut that stuff
5. Dog on you!
6. For the love of
Mike, Mutt, be reasonable
7. Good Night*
8. Got cleaned last night
9. I smell a rat
10. I'm stuck on you*
11. I'm the guy*
12. I'm the guy that
done it all*
13.
I'm through
14. Is My Hat on Straight?
15.
I've got you
16.
I've got your
number (version 1)*
17. I've got your number (version 2)
18.
Lead me to it
19.
Let's see what
you've got*
20.
Nothing to do
until tomorrow
21. Oh, just hanging around
22.
Oh you Cubs!*
23.
On your way
24.
Speak right out*
25.
Struck with
delight*
26.
Take it from me,
Bo.*
27.
Take that noise
outside*
28.
Tie that bull
outside*
*I found these designs in both sizes.
