1,000 Days of Buttons!

This fabled mustang is one of the Holy Grails of Bakelite buttons. Once upon a time, my hunt for this button could not be tamed. For many years I searched for it until this one finally found its way into the stable of my safekeeping. A fantastic example of old-time plastic, this sought-after superstar has been featured in books on Art Deco and Bakelite. For me it epitomizes the ostentatious world of the 1920's and 1930's like no other button. A butterscotch horse profile resting in a rootbeer dish, it's got loads of style, scads of charm, a beautifully buttery color and that special Bakelite panache that is indescribable. The art deco horse head: Legendary! And on that note, here's to the end of an era. Consider this debonair horse a last hurrah and a grand finale. This button concludes my blog.

Since 2015 I have I enjoyed this hobby of photographing buttons and uploading them for the world to see. While I would love to keep going, the time has come for me to pursue other projects. Today marks my 1,000th post and I'm ready to move on. A special thank you to my good friend Doreen for being my #1 button supplier and co-adventurer in the pursuit of vintage buttons. Thank you also to the staff of River Market Antiques in Kansas City, and to the National Button Society. It would be remiss of me not to express my gratitude to Leo Baekeland, the chemist who invented Bakelite in 1907 at his laboratory in Yonkers, New York. Last of all, thank you to all who have followed my blog over the years. For better or worse, I leave it now to the unknown fate of the internet. 

Visit Doreen's online store:

BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC

And that's a wrap!
-Sherbert McGee 

Checkered Wowzer

My friend Doreen sold me this button a few years ago and I've got to say it's one of the most SPECTACULAR buttons I've ever seen. Sixty-four pieces of Bakelite comprise this checkerboard button. Count them! That's a whopping 64 pieces of yellow and maroon Bakelite—all fitted together to form this masterpiece of extraordinary craftsmanship. This is a large button, likely made in the 1930's or 40's. The work that went into a simple button back then is astounding compared to the chintzy, run-of-the-mill  buttons we see today. If there was ever a button that illustrates the ornate style of last century's bygone fashions, here it is. A grand harlequin of Jazz-Age flair.

BONUS BUTTONS: Here's another pair of two-tone buttons that I thought I'd share today. The button to the left is an art deco zinger made of apple juice Bakelite that was cut diagonally after a sinfully bright piece of red Bakelite was added to the top. The angularities of the cut designs give this button a vogue splash that honors the glamour of 1920's flamboyance. Can't you just imagine a juicy row of these buttons on the blouse of Tallulah Bankhead or some other actress in the 1930's? The button to the right reminds me of a bell. An orange Bakelite ball dangles under a Bakelite arch. If this isn't a button it may very well be a charm from a larger piece of jewelry, such as a necklace.

BONUS BUTTONS II: More buttons! This assortment is too delicious and I'm totally spellbound by every piece. The apple juice square might be my favorite with striped carvings beneath each of the pointy corners. What a hoot! The rectangular button is orange with a carved leaf design that was filled in with turquoise paint. That's turquoise on orange and what a color combo! The green toggles remind me of stubby toadstools and they exude positive vibes. Lastly, the burgundy button sports a fantastic carving of a flower and leaves. All of these buttons are made of Bakelite and they all hark back to the 1920's/1930s's. I love the saturated colors and the hearty juju of genuine Bakelite.

Visit Doreen's online store:

BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC 

-Sherbert McGee

Beglittered & Bejeweled

BEGLITTERED: Perhaps the most eye-catching of all Bakelite buttons are the ones infused with a New Year's Eve party. Here are two of those buttons and they are not to be missed. Nor could you miss them since they are impossible to not see. Flooded in gobs of glitter, these oblong wowzers are ovular with capped ends. Everything is Bakelite. The bulk of these babies is apple juice Bakelite. The more highly pictured button is blessed with burgundy bumpers (Bakelite), while the lower button is decorated with curvaceous side-panels in a rare shade of dark blue-green teal (also Bakelite). When Bakelite swallows glitter, the result is a champagne blowout: Ritzy. Excessive. Jubilant.

BEJEWELED: While glitter is fun, perhaps diamonds are where that fun turns luxurious. Here we have three sensational ball buttons made of apple juice Bakelite, and these roly-poly beauties are not merely fun. They are downright extravagant. Measuring just under one inch across, they're chunky orbs with more rhinestones riding their hides than I care to count. The sun took a literal shine to these fancy globes; and would you look at the firelight caught in all three of their shadows. The antique dealer who sold me these buttons claimed to have purchased them from the estate of Lizabeth Scott—a smoky-voiced actress most known for her film noir pictures of the 1940's. 

BEGLITTERED and BEJEWELED: Today's post ends with a bling instead of bang; and here's a grand finale that refuses to be ignored. There are two buttons here: a gigantic belt-buckle sized showstopper made of orange juice Bakelite that was studded with twenty rhinestones, and a smaller button made of apple juice Bakelite with two inlaid black Bakelite circles set in just the right position to make the buttonholes look like googly eyes. What more, this button was glittered with a golden hailstorm decorating its translucent interior. Normally I wouldn't set one button on top of the other for a blog photo, but that massive slab of orange Bakelite was just begging to be treated like a stage. And that's showbiz!

Visit Doreen's online store:

BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC

-Sherbert MCGee   

Geometric Bakelite

Truly a work of art, this large square is a Bakelite coat button that goes back to the 1930's. Made out of three colors, the Bakelite pieces are interlocking strips of rootbeer and butterscotch with a chocolate-brown center. The button exhibits a bold portrayal of the art deco style, which came into prominence between the world wars and which has come to represent an aesthetic stamp of 20th Century progress and power. The geometric formation of this studious button is drop-dead dashing!

Another display of rootbeer Bakelite, these heavy buttons are no ordinary set. Chunky & charming, each features a centerpiece made of swirled butterscotch Bakelite. The buttons resemble sharp cubes with smooth corners and a polished suavity that easily goes back to the 1920's. There's also a collegiate air coming off of these preppy twins and I can't help but wonder if they once adorned the sweater of a trendy egghead, circa 1929. Naturally, I'm naming these buttons Harvard and Yale. 

-Sherbert McGee

Bakelite+Wood: Jackpot!

After many years of collecting Bakelite buttons, I've accumulated a slew of them that were made with wooden bits. They are most unusual in that these two materials couldn't be more dissimilar. Bakelite is a type of plastic made of synthetic elements. Obviously man-made, it is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin. And wood is wood. Put them together and the result is a peculiar combo of the organic and the inorganic. Nature meets plastic. And just look at this vivid variety of Bakelite buttons produced with lumber components. The big button at the center depicts an art deco design. Beneath it, the eye-shaped button is made of apple juice Bakelite over wood. The two pieces are ridged where they connect at the center—giving the button a striped texture. The topmost button pictured here is made with a wood base and then two tones of red Bakelite, which are clearly visible with a pinkish red sandwiched under a maroon layer. What else can be said of these quirky half-breeds? When timber and Bakelite get married, they indeed bear some fascinating children. 

This pair of buttons has been in my collection for approximately one hour. I purchased these buttons earlier this week from my friend Doreen and they literally just showed up in my mailbox. Not too long ago, my collection of Bakelite/wood buttons seemed complete. But when I saw these two buttons in Doreen's shop, I had to snatch them up on account of their unique style. I don't find buttons like this very often with the Bakelite framing the wood—and with such excellent precision. The round button shown here was carved with a dramatic set of lines that run seamlessly over the circular midsection of wood as well as the apple juice Bakelite. The square button was built similarly, but the wooden area runs smooth with all the carved details whittled into the black, Bakelite border. Bakelite buttons are peculiar enough by themselves, but get some wood involved and they become truly eccentric.

Visit Doreen's online store:

BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC 

-Sherbert McGee