Pinback button with the slogan "Starve A Rat Today"
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1970
name: label: Created by
content: New York City Department of Health, American, founded 1866
notes: label: Caption
content: The "starve a rat today" slogan was used as part of urban sanitation campaigns by in the 1970s. This button is from the New York City health department campaign to lower the rat population. The button was handed out to school children along with ribbons that stated "I am a volunteer." Volunteers would go door to door, reminding people to keep the lids of their garbage cans tight to help prevent rats from feeding. Similar buttons, yellow with black text and a graphic of a rat, were used by the Philadelphia health department around the same time.
label: Caption
content: A version of the slogan, "Don't Cook Dinner -- Starve A Rat Today," was co-opted by participants of the 1970 Women's Strike for Equality March. The march was organized by the National Organization of Women as a nationwide work stoppage by women - no cooking, no cleaning - to draw attention to the unequal distribution of domestic labor.
label: Description
content: A black and yellow pinback button with the slogan [Starve a rat today.]. The exterior edge of the button has a manufacturer's stamp that is illegible. The back of the button has a metal pin without a clasp.
place: label: Place used
content: United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Government
label: Topic
content: Health
label: Topic
content: Urban life
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Memorabilia and Ephemera - Political and Activist Ephemera
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of T. Rasul Murray
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2013.68.47
objectType: label: Type
content: buttons (information artifacts)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Unknown - Restrictions Possible
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on paper with metal and plastic
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 2 1/4 × 2 1/4 × 5/16 in. (5.7 × 5.7 × 0.8 cm)