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.
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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
Merry Christmas, everybody! Several years ago when I found this amazing eight-spiked star button, the festive charm of the thing seemed to sing Christmastime. So here it is with some Xmas props, my holiday zinger with etched stripes and loads of glitter. An apple juice button made of Bakelite, this cosmic keeper likely goes back to the 1920's or the early 30's. Stay cozy and enjoy the eggnog, peeps! This concludes my Yuletide post for 2017.
-Sherbert McGee
Closing out my week of black winter coat buttons, here's a scenic wonder in tested and confirmed Bakelite that almost seems to depict a moonless image of nightfall—replete with a smattering of seven asterisk-shaped stars. How blessedly cosmic! Two deep folds in the Bakelite frame half of this button in a heavenly halo that adds a stylish ridge to the design. A starry marvel from the 1930's and just in time for Christmas.
Visit Doreen's online store
Click here: BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
Looky here, button fans! This black Bakelite coat button (centered) from the 1930's is flanked by a hard-to-find pair of matching cape clasps! Stunningly carved, the patina-laced flower design with etched motif is entirely characteristic of the art deco style that I'm always ranting about. Still tailed with its original silver chain, at one time the clasps might've secured an opulent fur cloak on a dandy gent—or an uptown lady with so much class. Depression-era stuff at its finest.
Visit Doreen's online store
Click here: BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
Here's "day three" of my week full of black winter coat buttons. One of the things I'm trying to do with these photos is tilt the buttons toward the sunlight to really capture the etched designs on these super-vogue relics of 1920's-30's workmanship. Today's Bakelite marvel is particularly eye-catching with two pairs of leaning posies styled just so. Notice the added effect of the patina resting in the length of the willowy stems. So suave, so chic, so dignified.
-Sherbert McGee
Bundle up, peeps! Wintertime is almost here and I'm posting black coat buttons all this week as a salute to the cold and as a salute to licorice Bakelite. This button presents three layers of scalloped folds that appear to be peeling upwards as if the button is poised to open like a flower or a seashell. A chunk of 1930's beauty, this dark and snaggy-lipped button tested positive for the desired plastic.
Visit Doreen's online store
Click here: BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
Winter officially begins in a few days and so I've decided that I'm going to post nothing but black winter coat buttons all week long, starting with this major beauty. The trees are bare now outside, hence it seems fitting to uphold a button depicting three falling leaves etched in the art deco style on this Bakelite stunner from the 1920's. On a side note, this is the first black Bakelite button that I ever owned, purchased from an antique button collector in New Haven, Connecticut many years ago.
-Sherbert McGee
What in the world have we here? It's a large, creamed corn button in Bakelite featuring ten cutouts in the shapes of dancing worms or twisted pipe cleaners or maybe a set of doodles drawn by a blind child? The effect is a little zany and a little goofy, but somehow celebratory of that grandiose and fashion-forward party that's widely regarded as the 1920's. Exceptionally hard to come by, this old "squiggle button" is one of the fabulous finds that my friend Doreen stumbled on last summer in a major windfall of unusual Bakelite.
Visit Doreen's online store
Click here: BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
Have you ever looked at an ice skating rink after a day's use and seen all the blade marks left over from the ice skaters? It's a spirally intricate network of fanciful loops and crisscrossing skate tracks that equal quite a design. These old rootbeer buttons look to me like an aerial view of three frozen lakes, each of them skated on thoroughly. If you guess these buttons to be Bakelite, you would be absolutely right. From the 30's or possibly the early 1940's.
Visit Doreen's online store
Click here: BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
Christmastime is nigh and here's a little reindeer button to celebrate the season. Resting on maroon Bakelite, the sterling fawn looks a bit caught in the headlights. But is it a deer or a wee dog of some sort? I brought this button with me to work the other day and the general consensus is that this is a baby deer. Still, some of my co-workers are of the opinion that this button sports a chihuahua puppy. I'm partial to chihuahuas, but I do think this button calls attention to a definite deer. Anyway, to make up for any offended pooches, I'm going to post a whole week of Bakelite dog buttons next month. That's five days of dogs, coming in January.
-Sherbert McGee
Here's a small handful of Bakelite buttons, or "toggles" is more like it. From left to right: a cherry red toggle with a grooved design, a brown oddity with mushroom-shaped knobs at both ends, an even stranger toggle that appears to have been hugged by a squid—evidenced by those freaky suction-cup indentations, another red toggle that's got the look of lipstick and a plain butterscotch log with its self-shank facing upwards. So there you have it. Five toggles in a row. That's all folks!
-Sherbert McGee
Doreen sold me this button last month and I'm just nuts about it. Who's Doreen? Well, I mention her all the time, but if you don't know by now, Doreen is a friend and fellow button connoisseur who sells all styles of vintage buttons online through her button outlet: "Buttons From the Attic" on Etsy. This clear button resembles a shard of glass, shaped like a fancy snippet of Alençon lace. It's not glass, however, but a see-through variety of Bakelite (apple juice). Etched with a stripe and carved leaves, there's a jewel-like quality to this very queenly button.
Visit Doreen's online store
Click here: BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
