It started with a rock band

State Senator Esther Saperstein delivered a hearty campaign pitch to students at Mather High School as a candidate for Delegate to the Illinois State Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) in 1969. As she pledged her “blood, sweat and tears…” the crowd of teenagers instantly roared with approval, applauding, hooting, and cheering the stunned speaker, who had been cut off in mid-sentence.

She looked bewildered, not understanding the reason for the spontaneous and continuous clapping and shouting.  She turned and looked to another candidate, State Representative Paul Elward, for an explanation and he simply shrugged, neither of them aware that "Blood, Sweat, and Tears" was the name of a popular rock band.