Party buttons! Woo-hoo! I look at this three-piece set of buttons in bright creamed corn Bakelite and I see a Mexican celebration, or a fiesta of vintage charms going back to the 1920's. Speckled and spotted in random etchings and an explosion of confetti-like doodles, these funsters also resemble egg-like Picasso sculptures. A lot of Spanish merrymaking is rampant in these buttony works of art.
Adios and te veo pronto!
-Sherbert McGee
What in the world?! One of my favorite Bakelite oddity-buttons is this absolutely wacky toggle in green and butterscotch. The butterscotch core piece is a cylinder wrapped in the green "cocoon" sort of exterior with three shaved away sections revealing the bright golden-yellow interior. At both ends of this crazy button you can see the butterscotch log as well. Letting my imagination run wild, it's almost like this button is a stylized depiction of a Venus flytrap eating a stick of butter! Normally, I don't post more than one photo per button on this blog, but this major curiosity is an exception and I'm sharing an additional picture here to show off the marvelous angles and contours of this truly unusual find. In all my years collecting Bakelite buttons, I've never come across another like this one. Purchased at a now-closed antique shop in New York City that boasted the city's best vintage jewelry section with oodles of Bakelite brooches and bracelets, I was told that this button was made back in the mid-1940's. Cocooned Bakelite. Isn't is mind-boggling?
-Sherbert McGee
Several months ago, I bought this large flower button from my friend Doreen, and am I glad I did so! The button is rootbeer Bakelite with uneven swirling that leans to the border's edges. The brownish patches, visible in this photo, run around the right side of the button with a few other splotches here and there. With the "rootbeer effect" not consistently dispersed, it's a fun button to study. circa 1930.
Visit Doreen's online store:
BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
Last summer I visited my brother in Prescott, Arizona and found this pair of sunny treasures in a glass pickle jar filled with old buttons at an antique shop. These big beauties are made of orange juice Bakelite with oversized buttonholes and a pleated or crimped design that adds to their striking eye-appeal. Orange juice Bakelite smacks of brilliant swirling and these buttons are no exception. From the 1920's.
-Sherbert McGee
How excited I was to make room in my collection for this major chunkster in apple juice Bakelite. Smooth and humongous, this button has the look of a dome-like blister with three deep gouges and a truly ponderous composure. At one point in time, I believe a wash of paint covered the bottom of this button as there is still a faint residue, which provides this big boy with a smoky hue. Circa 1930.
Visit Doreen's online store:
BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
Truly a beautiful button, this vision in black comes from the collection of my friend Doreen, who sold me this button last year. Following one of her highly successful button-hunting sprees, Doreen laid out her latest finds and my eyes fell straightaway on this licorice prize. A sharp square is cut within a stylized border with a pyramid-shaped elevation sectioned in fours and then embellished with a few squiggly flourishes. What results is a magnificent style, though unmistakably prim. I see this button on the priggish garb of a no-nonsense schoolmarm in the early 1930's. Strict, but sensational.
Visit Doreen's online store:
BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
Feast your eyes on a huge burst of style. As large a Bakelite button as I've ever seen, this major giant measures nearly three inches across—and my how it astounds this avid collector! My friend and fellow-button enthusiast, Doreen, found this mighty sensation last year and sold it to me in the spring. Fittingly, the centerpiece on this extraordinary design is a carved flower made of creamed corn Bakelite. But what really seduces me the most is the bright cherry-red Bakelite foundation that stretches further and wider that your ordinary button, causing me to wonder what type of clothing item this adorned back in the 1930's (when it was made during the steady wane of the flapper era). Anyone's guess is as good as mine, but I picture this button perched on one heck of a spiffy frock!
Visit Doreen's online store:
BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
What in the world?! One of my favorite Bakelite oddity-buttons is this absolutely wacky toggle in green and butterscotch. The butterscotch core piece is a cylinder wrapped in the green "cocoon" sort of exterior with three shaved away sections revealing the bright golden-yellow interior. At both ends of this crazy button you can see the butterscotch log as well. Letting my imagination run wild, it's almost like this button is a stylized depiction of a Venus flytrap eating a stick of butter! Normally, I don't post more than one photo per button on this blog, but this major curiosity is an exception and I'm sharing an additional picture here to show off the marvelous angles and contours of this truly unusual find. In all my years collecting Bakelite buttons, I've never come across another like this one. Purchased at a now-closed antique shop in New York City that boasted the city's best vintage jewelry section with oodles of Bakelite brooches and bracelets, I was told that this button was made back in the mid-1940's. Cocooned Bakelite. Isn't is mind-boggling?
