Painted Bakelite

People ask me which button in my collection is my favorite and I rarely have an answer. It's tough to decide because they're all so different and unique, but this button might be the chosen one if I really had to pick a favorite. Purchased last year from my friend Doreen, this is a simple Bakelite square in creamed corn with a painting set in the etched design of flowers stemming off of a leafy branch. The childlike simplicity of the painting almost looks like a prairie scene as illustrated in a Depression-era picture book. I've given this button a thorough examination and it possesses all the hallmarks of a good luck charm. There's a rustic dreaminess here that goes back many decades, making this a true American antique. My love of Bakelite is summarized in the sweetness of this old humdinger.

Visit Doreen's online store:

BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC

-Sherbert McGee

Casein+Bakelite Sandwich

Last week I posted a button made of Bakelite and Lucite. Following up with another combination of plastics, here's a button sandwiching layers of white casein and bright red Bakelite. Casein is an interesting plastic in that it's made of proteins derived from milk. The layers of casein and Bakelite on this button are carved at the sides for a striking design that gives the button the appearance of an advanced gumdrop. It's no wonder I'm stuck on this sweet old beauty. Made in the 1940's.

-Sherbert McGee

Green Triplets

Green, green and green! Here we have three Bakelite buttons, each showing off a distinctive motif with various hues and textures. The upper left button is two tones of green with a dark border and a lighter midsection. Next to it is an olive button sporting a shield design (and some internal crazing). The bottom button is my favorite with an art deco design depicting swirled leaves at its outer edges. These are pressed buttons going back to the 1920's!

-Sherbert McGee

Twisted Bits

Bakelite goodies, here we go! These screwy keepers are cut and carved all around into a cheery threesome of buttery nuggets. Almost toggles, they were sliced off diagonally at the ends and so they are not toggles, but wedge-shaped buttons in creamed corn with gouged sections around the tops that form a uniquely striking design. These rugged old buttons likely go back to the 1930's.

Visit Doreen's online store:

BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC

-Sherbert McGee

Black and AJ, Fifty-Fifty

My dream job in the 1930's would've been to work in a Bakelite button factory. I think about that sometimes when I see a button like this that almost resembles an experiment. This big coat button is half black Bakelite and half apple juice Bakelite with spruce carvings running evenly all over the place. A bit scuffed and dingy, this button has seen better days. But what a cool find! circa 1935.

-Sherbert McGee

Plum & Pear

Feast your eyes on these nifty fruit buttons and see how they shine with a supple, almost lifelike ripeness. Bakelite fruit (and vegetable) buttons are a collectors dream. They always remind me of marzipan—the European confections molded into food shapes. Here we have a juicy maroon plum and a bright butterscotch pear, replete with green fabric stems. Sculpted with dimples and cleavage, these fruity buttons are smooth works of art. Highly sought after, they go back to the trinket/gadget jewelry craze of the 1930's.

-Sherbert McGee

This week I've been posting classic advertisements from issues of Fortune magazine, circa 1938. The ads show how Bakelite was touted as a newly innovative plastic that transformed household fixtures and appliances into freshly styled designs with a bright wave of color options. This particular ad is my favorite with its vibrant depiction of vintage game pieces and a choice radio. Still in pristine condition, this fine page of ephemera is over eighty years old...

Don't Eat My Cookies!

Bakelite cookie buttons have always been a fun part of my collection. Check out the "labels" I've created for this blog and notice that I've now posted over 40 varieties of cookie buttons. I reckon that Cookie Monster would go ballistic. These cookies are a pressed style with an eye-catching design. I don't see this kind of cookie too often in my search for Bakelite buttons. From the 1930's.

-Sherbert McGee

Visit Doreen's online store:

BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC

What's almost as exciting as finding antiques made of Bakelite? How about vintage magazine ads for Bakelite? Notice the tagline on this advertisement: The Material Of a Thousand Uses. I've been sharing these attractive old ads all week and I still have one more that I'll post tomorrow. Until then...