Button, button, who's got the button? Find out July 31

Collector Jerry Higgins will show off some of his buttons and other political memorabilia before the Democratic presidential candidates meet for their second debate on Wednesday, July 31.

Higgins will speak at 6:30 p.m. in the Truman Lounge. The second night of the second debate will be shown on the televisions.

The talk is sponsored by the National Press Club's Events Team.

A senior executive with Sage/CQ Press Publishing - which publishes, among other things, political science textbooks - Higgins has been collecting presidential memorabilia since 1972.

The first presidential campaign buttons were sewn onto supporters’ coats and simply displayed the candidate’s initials, “GW.” The oldest “button” in Higgins’ collection was made in 1841 for the inauguration of William Henry Harrison.

“Back then the ‘button’ was a coin that they drilled a hole in at the top that they put a string or ribbon through so they could wear it like a necklace,” Higgins explains. “Buttons as we know them started really showing up in 1896 for the race between William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan. They would sometimes be given out with cigarettes and other things.”

Higgins would know; he has those in his collection, too.