Photographing Bakelite can be tricky sometimes when you're trying to get the correct color across so that what's real matches up with the picture. This Bakelite button is a case in point. The color is an unusual shade of red with some tomatoey-orange thrown in for a scarlet and gently rusted tone. This may look like a plain old button, but in person this is a curious shade of red Bakelite. c. 1925.
-Sherbert McGee
Greetings, friends! Here's a little button that I've owned for approximately one hour. I'm currently visiting family in Arizona where I always like to go button hunting at the antique shops in good ole Scottsdale. I have better luck finding Bakelite buttons in Scottsdale, Arizona than any other city in the USA. One theory suggests that Scottsdale is brimming with well-to-do retirees who part ways with their vintage wares more readily than in other parts of the country. Anyway, this is an elongated cookie button in green and creamed corn. A light layer of grunge occupies this button, but it's not as grody in person. In fact, it's rather charming. This is a small button. Consider this a preview of more smalls that I'll be posting in April. COMING SOON: a full week of small buttons.
-Sherbert McGee
This hefty baby has only been in my collection for a month or two and I'm amazed by this buttery chunkster. The button is made of creamed corn Bakelite and likely goes back to the 1930's. What's more, the button is carved with some of the deepest gouges and folds I've ever come across in a Bakelite button. So marked and shapely are the sculpted areas that this button has the look of an overly dimpled mound of yellow clay. Finally, a light patina gives this old keepsake a dusty charm.
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BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
As a collector of Bakelite, I think "variety" is key. While my favorite buttons are the larger and heavier variety, sometimes I like to splurge on a lightweight set of buttons as evidenced by these wispy oranges—made of Bakelite and dating back to the mid 1920's. Factory-pressed around their borders, the buttons here reveal subtle differences that are hard to see in a photograph. A few are thinner than others, but each is a unique specimen of Depression-era plastic. These buttons aren't very weighty or substantial, but they exude a wonderfully vintage feel.
-Sherbert McGee
As big as they get, here's a massive coat button from the 1930's in bright & shiny rootbeer Bakelite. But look what else this biggie has to offer. Centered on this wide button is another shard of Bakelite. Riding on a small brass plate, this triangular bit of rootbeer Bakelite is centrally pinned like a button all its own. A double shot of rootbeer, large and small. How about that?
Visit Doreen's online store:
BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
Today feels like the right day to post my very bright red strawberry button in glorious red Bakelite. From top to bottom, this button exudes all the contours of a garden-fresh winner. At the crown of the button, there's a cluster of painted (green) leaves with mild chipping at the paint job. Shapely and ripe, the button curves toward its lowest part with a smattering of dimples just like the real thing. So sweet! This button was part of the "trinket jewelry" fad that dominated blouses during the years after WWII. I purchased it several years ago from an antique dealer who guesstimated that it was made in the late 30's/early 40's. That makes this one heck of an old strawberry.
-Sherbert McGee
If these buttons look familiar, that's because I posted similarly colored buttons last year. The little ticket-shaped button here is made of butterscotch Bakelite. Last May I posted two buttons just like this in green and maroon. The toggle pictured here (with pearlized celluloid at both ends) is exactly like a red and brown pair of toggles I posted last year in October, while this one is black—and also made of Bakelite. Both of these buttons were made in the 1930's.
Visit Doreen's online store:
BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
