What's this? At first glance I thought this Bakelite toggle button was a pineapple on a pedestal. Wrong! My friend Doreen was the one who pointed out that this button is meant to be shaped like a candle. The flame is overly carved and does resemble a tropical fruit on a smooth pillar—perhaps an offering for the Hawaiian Gods, but no. A candle it is. Made of butterscotch Bakelite, it probably harks back to the 1920's-1930's. I found this toggle last month at an antique shop in Scottsdale, AZ.
-Sherbert McGee
My last blog post listed all the standard colors of Bakelite, but here's a hard-to-identify color that definitely defies those typical tones. Normally, a piece of Bakelite that features a shade of brown—speckled with black—is the color that we Bakelite fanatics call Mississippi Mud. But this button has an earthy, dark greenish quality to it as well. And for that reason, I'm calling this a Mississippi Moss button. Can I do that? I've never actually seen this color before: brownish green with veiny flecks of black. It's something of an exotic anomaly. Carved to a fancy extreme, this button's flower design only adds to the strange beauty of such an extraordinary find.
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BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
All the Bakelite smalls I've been posting this week culminate now with this final post. Here we have an assortment of antique buttons that each measure approximately half-an-inch across. These little buttons go back to the early 1930's and truly exude the nostalgic allure of the olden-days. What I've loved about this week's assortment of Bakelite smalls is that all the standard colors of Bakelite have been spotlighted. Scroll back across this past week and you'll see a plastic rainbow of the following ten, traditional tones of Bakelite as listed here:
1. Red
2. Orange
3. Creamed Corn (light yellow)
4. Butterscotch (dark yellow)
5. Green
6. Maroon
7. Chocolate Brown
8. Licorice Black
9. Rootbeer (tortoise)
10. Apple Juice (transparent)
Aside from the spectrum of colors depicted in these posts, the shapes have also run the gamut. Looking at today's post, my favorites are the pair of trefoils in black and creamed corn. Also, check out that red toggle in Prystal Bakelite with carved notches running along the topside. All together, these buttons form a virtual charm bracelet of unique forms and a vibrantly playful blend of styles.
-Sherbert McGee
Bakelite smalls are where it's at this week as I spotlight some of my littlest buttons going back to the Great Depression. Today's selection depicts a pair of four-petaled blossoms. The maroon flower is stubby and carved while the orange flower is flimsy and pressed. Another distinctive button is the smallest of the five—made of AJ Bakelite with a design of lines engraved on its underside. Nifty!
-Sherbet McGee
Let's take a look at today's set of Bakelite smalls. These are little buttons, best buttoned with little fingers and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if many of the buttons I'm posting this week were originally part of children's clothing going back to the 1920's through the early 1940's. My favorite doodad in today's assortment is the maroon button, shaped to resemble a three-dimensional cube. Sweet!
-Sherbert McGee
