Button 136: United Cartoon Workers Local 1: San Francisco

136. United Cartoon Workers Local 1: San Francisco (1990).

A larger version of this button first appeared in 1973 (see #7-A). The formation of an actual labor union of underground cartoonists was in the air in the early '70s. West coast cartoonists like Spain Rodriguez and Robert Crumb attended meetings of the venerable but tiny International Workers of the World (I.W.W.) in San Francisco. Some artists thought a union would help them get better deals with publishers. The affiliation with the old left "Wobblies" never went anywhere but the idea of artist solidarity had wide appeal. Denis Kitchen was the publisher and owner of Krupp/Kitchen Sink, but he was also a cartoonist and at the time a card-carrying socialist. The latter considerations outweighed the first, so he created buttons as the first visible symbol of cartoonist solidarity.

Some artists (like Crumb) put U.C.W.A. symbols on their comix covers. There were only two significant clusters of underground cartoonists in 1973: San Francisco, where undergrounds originated and flourished, was designated Local No. 1 and Milwaukee, then home to Krupp/Kitchen Sink and half a dozen or so underground cartoonists, became Local No. 2 (see button #2-A). In 1990 the growing number of young and activist cartoonists lead Kitchen to expand the number of official locals. The cumbersome two and a quarter inch version of this button was replaced by the more practical (wearable) one and a quarter inch design here. Designed by Peter Poplaski and Denis Kitchen. (See buttons #2-A, 7-A, 67, 137-141 and 157)

Diameter 1.25 inches. $5.00

One note, for serious button collectors, you may want to read the KSP BUTTON TEXT which explains the numbering systems for identifying the various buttons produced over the last 30 years, or see the COMPLETE KSP BUTTON LIST. The list is VERY long, so be patient while it loads.