The Redder the Better

Like a piece of hard candy under a cellophane wrapper, this is one of those hard-as-stone buttons with the peerless shine of genuine cherry Bakelite. Modern plastics in red just don't come close to this level of saccharine luminosity. When it comes to juicy buttons, you have to hand it to the 1920's. This particular eyeful is a prime example of why red Bakelite is my all-time favorite.

-Sherbert McGee 

Fabergé Rootbeer

What I love about this rootbeer button is the duality of the carved sides. To the right there is a crescent moon bearing eight horizontal slashes. To the left there is a mishmash of crisscross detail and an excess of rigorous whittling in the design. This button almost looks like a Swarovski glass production or something along the lines of a Fabergé invention. I look at this button and I see the garish adornment on a royal czar. Rootbeer Bakelite at its fanciest.

-Sherbert McGee

Eternity Symbol?

When I look at this button I see a ring of worlds going around and around for ever and ever like a token of perpetuity. Or is it a caterpillar that's merged, head-on, into its own caboose? Buttons like this are open to interpretation. Also, I tried to count the circles and got dizzy while having flashbacks of the year I failed geometry in high school. This is a Bakelite button in the color known as creamed corn. That is all for today. 

-Sherbert McGee 

Deep Leaf, I Love You

With the autumn season coming to an end, I was mulling over my brown buttons the other day and decided to take a picture of this leafy champion. Brown Bakelite comes in many tonal variations, my favorite being this class of rich, fluent chocolate. Put a leaf on it and I'm satisfied. I love leaf designs and this one is super grooved in a lustrous eruption of carved detail. No doubt about it, this is one lucky button.

-Sherbert McGee

Toggle Tuesday: Apple Juice Pillars of Light

Last night while I was photographing these apple juice toggles, the sun began to set and for a few otherworldly minutes these buttons filled up with an almost supernatural light and began to glow like surreal party favors. Is it a case of Bakelite gone paranormal? Adding to the hoodoo, they remind me of earthy drums with an African vibe. What's more, even when they aren't gleaming like eerie talismans these primitively carved toggles emit a strange magic. Clink them together and they sound like two insightful shamans.

-Sherbert McGee         

Smart Olives, by Golly!

I tilted these buttons just right in the sunlight so that their modish carvings are front-and-center. Quintessential Art Deco, these Bakelite babies are puttin' on the ritz! For me, they conjure up the debonair style of a snappy dresser on Park Avenue, circa 1929. Dressy and worldly-wise, they look like they think pretty highly of themselves.   

Visit Doreen's online store

Click here: BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC

-Sherbert McGee

A Batch of Butterscotch Moons

 
Now and then I find a Bakelite button with the consistency of polished glass. These plump knockouts fit that description and radiate an Art Deco savvy with a marbled complexion and all the allure of honeyed gold. Size-wise, I can deposit my thumb in the carved-out hollows of these buttons and the fit is so uncanny...maybe these really are just glassy thumb rests? On the Bakelite color spectrum, these buttons are definitive butterscotch. Oozing with poise, they are savory to look at and smooth as topaz candy.

-Sherbert McGee     

Bakelite Masquerade

I don't know what to make of this button. For one thing, it's huge...measuring more than two inches across. And the shape! Is it a fiery bow-tie or a blazing mask or some sort of Iroquois sun symbol? It kind of resembles the face of a handsome bird with tufts of carved feathers poking out of the sides. I wonder if this was part of a 1930's kimono or a novelty costume worn by a scathingly chic socialite who lunched with Peggy Guggenheim? All I can say for sure is that this is a Bakelite button without the faintest scuff mark. Also, it's phenomenally orange.

-Sherbert McGee      

My Kind of Button

This button has it all: a pudgy demeanor in green with healthy curves and a merry shine. It also has a pillow-like shape to it and a real gung-ho energy. I probably sound like a loon, but this button just feels cheerful. I bet it was owned once by someone with a good sense of fun. Check out the deep tunneling effect of the buttonholes and the very thick patina, which I'd sooner cultivate than remove. The four corners of this button appear to have been scratched by a six-fingered cat! This is the kind of button I keep in my pocket when I'm having one of those not-so-great days. Bakelite at its most positive. What else can I say? This button agrees with me.

-Sherbert McGee    

Jagged Little Frill

This barbed beauty is one of my spikiest buttons. Every angle is a razor-edged enigma and even the color suggests a gory blade or a blood-soaked kidney stone. An irregular specimen in dark maroon, this is Bakelite at its most saw-toothed and sharp-cornered. Give it a squeeze and it'll prick your thumb. I love this twisty rascal, but let's face it; this button probably fell off the Devil's tuxedo.

Visit Doreen's online store

Click here: BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC

-Sherbert McGee