Yes! 700 posts have now officially comprised this button blog and I'm still not done. Today's button is a major zinger, constructed with twelve pieces of Bakelite, adding up to this mighty octagon in three striking colors: espresso, butterscotch and apple juice. I love how the pieces interlock to form this art deco stop sign. A truly handsome (if not breathtaking) button, it's almost a stained glass window with its partially translucent sections and undeniably grand style. Indeed a celebratory work of art. Made in the 1930's.
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BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
Come and get it! This big coat button is made of chocolate brown Bakelite and sliced eight ways like an honest-to-goodness dessert, circa 1927. Dig in, friends! Luscious as a frosted layer of rich and gooey mousse, the button is designed with fanned-out etchings across each appetizing slice for a slick and delicious effect that really does make this button resemble a palatable feast. Nice as pie!
-Sherbert McGee
Cookies are a subcategory of Bakelite button and among the most collectible buttons out there. Playful and vivid, they come in a myriad of designs and color patterns going back to the 1920's. I've said this before and it still rings true: cookies with the triangle design have been the hardest to find in my personal button seeking. As fate would have it, this set of three green triangles fell into my lap a few years ago. A truly lucky trio of rare Bakelite.
As a sporty match to these green triangles, here's a self-portrait of Tamara de Lempicka at the wheel of her green Bugatti. Oozing with the art deco style, the work is titled "Autoportrait" and is generally considered Lempicka's signature masterpiece, painted in 1929 as a commissioned endeavor for the cover of Die Dame magazine—a hoity-toity luxury paper in the German market. Look at her eyes and get hypnotized. Is she a scathingly chic she-devil or what?
-Sherbert McGee
Party buttons! Woo-hoo! I look at this three-piece set of buttons in bright creamed corn Bakelite and I see a Mexican celebration, or a fiesta of vintage charms going back to the 1920's. Speckled and spotted in random etchings and an explosion of confetti-like doodles, these funsters also resemble egg-like Picasso sculptures. A lot of Spanish merrymaking is rampant in these buttony works of art.
Adios and te veo pronto!
-Sherbert McGee
What in the world?! One of my favorite Bakelite oddity-buttons is this absolutely wacky toggle in green and butterscotch. The butterscotch core piece is a cylinder wrapped in the green "cocoon" sort of exterior with three shaved away sections revealing the bright golden-yellow interior. At both ends of this crazy button you can see the butterscotch log as well. Letting my imagination run wild, it's almost like this button is a stylized depiction of a Venus flytrap eating a stick of butter! Normally, I don't post more than one photo per button on this blog, but this major curiosity is an exception and I'm sharing an additional picture here to show off the marvelous angles and contours of this truly unusual find. In all my years collecting Bakelite buttons, I've never come across another like this one. Purchased at a now-closed antique shop in New York City that boasted the city's best vintage jewelry section with oodles of Bakelite brooches and bracelets, I was told that this button was made back in the mid-1940's. Cocooned Bakelite. Isn't is mind-boggling?
-Sherbert McGee
Several months ago, I bought this large flower button from my friend Doreen, and am I glad I did so! The button is rootbeer Bakelite with uneven swirling that leans to the border's edges. The brownish patches, visible in this photo, run around the right side of the button with a few other splotches here and there. With the "rootbeer effect" not consistently dispersed, it's a fun button to study. circa 1930.
Visit Doreen's online store:
BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
Last summer I visited my brother in Prescott, Arizona and found this pair of sunny treasures in a glass pickle jar filled with old buttons at an antique shop. These big beauties are made of orange juice Bakelite with oversized buttonholes and a pleated or crimped design that adds to their striking eye-appeal. Orange juice Bakelite smacks of brilliant swirling and these buttons are no exception. From the 1920's.
-Sherbert McGee
How excited I was to make room in my collection for this major chunkster in apple juice Bakelite. Smooth and humongous, this button has the look of a dome-like blister with three deep gouges and a truly ponderous composure. At one point in time, I believe a wash of paint covered the bottom of this button as there is still a faint residue, which provides this big boy with a smoky hue. Circa 1930.
Visit Doreen's online store:
BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC
-Sherbert McGee
