This year I'll be posting variations of "rocker buttons" once a month, starting with this wobbly pair in green and creamed corn. Rockers come in an abundance of shapes and styles, but what they all have in common is two-tones and a rounded bottom or curved edge. Like clownish dollops or perky playthings, this parent and offspring have an undeniably toylike charm. +Bakelite, from the 1920's.
-Sherbert McGee
And here it is: one of my best-loved buttons in a classic shade of carbonated rootbeer. A Bakelite button, the design reminds me of a bear claw pastry or some Apache-inspired artwork (though this bear has eight toes). At its center the button is carved into a flower that heightens the beauty of this peculiar keepsake. Dating back to the 1930's, we may never know what sort of clothing item this remarkable antique once decorated.
-Sherbert McGee
Somebody might want to call the doctor because I'm seriously about ready to eat this delicious-looking button. It's a heavenly gob of chocolate Bakelite, neatly designed with a carved flower and four leafy offshoots. But what's really unique about this button is what you can't see in the photo. Curiously enough, the base is made of rootbeer Bakelite—a transparent brown that's inexplicably hidden underneath the dominant chocolate topside. To make up for the fact that you can't see this button's rootbeer foundation, I'm going to post one of my all-time favorite rootbeer buttons tomorrow. Brace yourselves, friends. It's a peerless beauty.
Visit Doreen's online store
Click here: BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
Orange Bakelite tends to be the toughest color to find in my experience. Why that's been true for me, I don't really know, but it's definitely the orange buttons that evade me more than any other color (not counting blue Bakelite, which is practically an anomaly). That's why I'm always quick to snatch up a tangerine-tone button when I find one. This perky dish is one of my favorite discoveries from last year—replete with the gear-edged border. A large button, bright as an apricot, dating back to the early 1940's.
-Sherbert McGee
For years now I've been calling these "bomb buttons" and I can't remember if someone else first called them that or if I coined the term myself. Whatever the case, this set of ten toggles is a deep reddish color and yes, these holy terrors tested positive for Bakelite. Definitely art deco in style, is there a hint of Germanic influence in these buttons? Imagine looking up at the sky during WWII and seeing explosives shaped something like these baddies falling out of a Nazi bomber. It's an ominous comparison, but I'm crazy about the charged vibes and tiered ends on these vogue little warheads.
-Sherbert McGee
Bang! Here's a button for the New Year and it's a biggie. The brass escutcheon bears the art deco emblem of a God with its stylized lightning bolt ricocheting over a cosmic band. The power of the design is boldly impressive and even more so when you take into consideration the black Bakelite. Carved into the surrounding rim, twelve semicircles uphold this button like the pillars of Olympus. Harking back to the 1930's, this lordly item exudes all the might of a deity's trinket. It's just a button, but it's also a monument of vintage majesty. And on that note, here's to the start of 2018. Woot!
-Sherbert McGee
Every now and then I discover a button that makes me say to myself: "What did I do to deserve this extraordinary find?" Without question, this is one of those buttons—carved in a rare tone of pale margarine or an illusion of bleached ivory. Whatever the color, it would be an understatement to call this button's hue a shade of creamed corn. Keep in mind, this is a Bakelite button and it might've been white once upon a time before time darkened it to this buttery feast for the eyes. But enough about its color. Look at the bulging folds and the etched lines running through this button in the two opposite corners. Of course, the button geek in me had to count the lines and there are twenty of them, cut evenly with ten on each side for an effect that's both supple and grand. Moreover, this is no dainty piece of plastic. This is a large coat button that dates back to the Roaring Twenties. In all my years as a collector, I've not come across another button like this one. A Bakelite dream button, richly composed and exploding with style. Isn't it marvelous?
-Sherbert McGee
This huge cherry-red button is the "double-cut" variety on account of its interesting dimensions from front to back. The open, vertical spaces you can see running through the button's background in this photo are at the front of the button's flipside. Double-cut buttons come in a wide variety of shapes and interesting styles. This design is pretty typical of the double-cut motif. With its set of cool angles and bold contours, there's an air of art deco geometry at play here. Most importantly, this old button tested positive for Bakelite.
-Sherbert McGee
This yin-yang beauty popped out at me this morning while I was deciding which button to post to my blog. The Bakelite yin is a swirled butterscotch while the Bakelite yang is more of a dark chocolate. Melded together, fifty-fifty, both colors deliver up a smooth eyeful of 1930's zip and zing. I love old buttons and studying the charm that they exude. This one exudes oodles. Thank you for visiting.
Visit Doreen's online store
Click here: BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
Stand back, saints & sinners! Here's a button you don't mess around with. An eerie Bakelite mystery button in polished olive with strange hints of orange, this button could be the Gordian insignia on a seer's calling card. Just look at that quartet of sloping moons, meshed into a fancy enigma of deep furrows. Design-wise, this baffling relic is one of my most cherished treasures—and a talisman. Circa 1928.
-Sherbert McGee
