4.18.38

Button, Commemorative

1930 Approximate

Janesville High School Cardinals Basketball Button. Material: metal, textile. Size: 3 1/2" L. Description: gold and black enameled circular metal button, "Janesville" printed in black in center; stick pin closure on back; gold ribbon attached to button extends down to hold gold metal basketball pendant with laces. (Pendant has the shape of a basketball, but there are laces. According to The Basketball Hall of Fame Museum: early basketballs had laces like footballs. The laces were removed from the design in 1937. Probably because it bounced funny if you dribbled on the laces... )

All artifacts were found in the home of John Schmidt of Janesville, MN. John is a great uncle to the donor. Emil Felske was a family friend. John's father was George Schmidt. George was part of the Janesville Fire Department and owned a clothing store with Werdin. George also sold insurance.