Today is Bastille Day (la Fête Nationale) and this blog does have a significant French following, so happy holiday to all of my Bakelite button fans from Paris to Marseilles and from Toulouse to Saint-Étienne. In celebration of the national day of France, here are two Bakelite buttons with metallic escutcheons, which are very much French. Joan of Arc, meet Napoleon. Napoleon, meet Joan of Arc! Joan's a nickel plate on black Bakelite with the engraved words Bienheureuse Jeanne d'Arc, meaning "blessed Joan of Arc." My French is a bit wonky, but that much I do know. Let's look at the other button. Napoleon's a faux gold coin, framed in rootbeer Bakelite and stamped with the words Napoleon Empereur III 1861. I've researched French coinage and this is an inexact replica of similar coins from the mid-1800's. I've had these buttons for years now and have saved them for a special French occasion, so here's to France and here's to world peace. Joyeux Noël.
-Sherbert McGee
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