ART DECO: Floral

Most of the art deco buttons I've been posting this week present boldly geometric forms angled in straightforward extravagance. But the art deco "look" also takes its inspiration from nature and (finally) here's an example of that in the form of stylized leaves carved into butterscotch Bakelite. This ideal button of the 1920's exudes everything I look for in an old Bakelite treasure: strength, vitality, beauty and pizzazz. What I love most about the art deco style is the confidence it sets forth. Whether it be a flapper's cigarette-holder, a stately mantle clock or an exotic car's hood ornament (as pictured below), where there's an element of art deco you'll witness a flashback to the grand and eternally stunning ideas of another time. 

-Sherbert McGee

"There was going to be no more poverty, no more ignorance, 
no more disease. Art Deco reflected that confidence, 

vigor and optimism by using symbols of progress, speed and power."

—Robert MacGregor (British engineer)

ART DECO: Zowie!

What in the world? One of my favorite Bakelite anomalies is this totally bonkers toggle from the late 1920's and definitely an example of art deco extraordinaire. While the middle segment is bright red Bakelite, the conical ends are sturdy aluminum. I look at this button and all I can think of is a failed telephone that Alexander Graham Bell might've kept down in his cellar while he ironed the kinks out of his latest invention. Either that, or this could be a hybrid of a trumpet, an eggbeater, a boomerang and a satellite. I mean, is this button bananas or what? Truly a novelty of Jazz Age surrealism.

-Sherbert McGee

ART DECO: Planets

Here's another snazzy art deco button and this one is a triad of celestial spheres. It appears that a brown planet has rolled in front of a butterscotch sun that's scooted in front of another brown planet, if not a chocolate moon. All three pieces of this cosmic keeper tested positive for Bakelite. It's an otherworldly eclipse of vintage plastic from the 1930's—replete with my smudgy fingerprint. Oops!

Visit Doreen's online store:
BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC

-Sherbert McGee

ART DECO: Goggles

Art deco is the theme of this week's buttons and here we are on the second day of the big hoopla. These two-tone wonders are made of apple juice Bakelite alternating in an eye-catching design with maroon Bakelite. Aren't they something? Each button is made of seven pieces, all sealed together back in the 1920's and still going strong nearly a century later. Thick as goggles, they resemble abstract lenses or a pair of zany spectacles invented by a pop artist. I looked through these buttons and I could've sworn I saw Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald stepping out of the Plaza Hotel in New York City at the height of their celebrity. As a matter of fact, I purchased this pair of buttons in NYC a few years ago at a now-closed antique shop in Greenwich Village. 

-Sherbert McGee

ART DECO: Double-Cut

Last month I mentioned that I'd soon be posting a full week of art deco buttons; and commencing today, that week begins. One of the reasons I started collecting Bakelite buttons is because so many of them were made in the art deco style (between the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression). The signature look of the Jazz Age has been preserved in all kinds of exquisite artwork, household items, chic architecture, vintage jewelry and even something as simple as a button. On that note, here's an art deco button made of creamed corn Bakelite that was designed with the double-cut method of carving the button on each side differently, so that the top layer and bottom of the button convey totally dissimilar patterns. Art deco, as a style, often reveals itself by way of simple, geographic contours and that is certainly the case here with triangular folds wrapped over circular rings—cleverly juxtaposed to accentuate the different shapes. I feel lucky to own this button as it's the only one of its kind that I have ever seen. Stay tuned for more Gatsby-era buttons throughout this week.

Visit Doreen's online store:
BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC  

-Sherbert McGee