2016     1″

In 1877 a railroad strike erupted on the east coast and spread west to towns along the rail lines. Locally, the general strike first made contact in East St. Louis and the metal foundries in Cardonelet—eventually consuming parts in between. It lasted a week and became known as the St. Louis Commune. In the end, the strike was put down by the better armed and better supplied ruling class of St. Louis—the annual V.P. Parade was started to commemorate their crushing of the strike. This button is based on a St. Louis newspaper cartoon mocking the participants as selfish and unrealistic, though real-life strikers did let their desires for a world beyond work and survival be known with similar signs. 

¢25-$2