We sometimes discuss other collectible fields as a way of understanding overall trends. I've always felt predictions of hobby death were overblown. Collecting seems to be an innate human desire. Not all of us, mind you - one is either born a collector or not. But new collectors are born every day, carrying their newfound hobbies into the future. Here's a pair of Chicago siblings who make, collect and write about buttons.
See also the article elsewhere in this issue on the definition of pinback.
-Editor
BUTTON POWER : 125 YEARS OF SAYING IT WITH BUTTONS
By Christen Carter and Ted Hake
From the campaign trail to the rock tour, BUTTON POWER (Princeton Architectural Press) collects a people's history of American culture told through the pin-back button. Lively commentary from two of America's foremost button experts shows how the small but powerful button reveals the events and movements that outraged, amused, and inspired us over time, from the solo flight of Charles Lindbergh to the Black Power movement. Artists, athletes, actors, politicians, punk and pop musicians, and mascots of the past 125 years make cameos, including Rube Goldberg, Muhammad Ali, the Ramones, Shirley Chisholm, and Bette Midler are all covered in this book!
The first book of its kind, BUTTON POWER is a rich visual feast showcasing over 1,500 buttons. You can see how design and messaging have been used spanning over a century!
The buttons featured in the book are from the collections of Ted Hake and Christen Carter and a couple of their collector friends. They range from very common like the Book It! buttons given away by Pizza Hut since the 1980s to the very rare Cox/Roosevelt button from 1920.
Christen (the owner of Busy Beaver Button Co) has been working on this book for 10 years and she is beyond excited to share it with you all! Hopefully, her passion for human expression and community building through these small, shareable items will inspire you.
For more information, or to order, see:
BUTTON POWER : 125 YEARS OF SAYING IT WITH BUTTONS
(https://www.busybeaver.net/buttonpower/)
Check out the Button Museum sometime. The blog seems well done and interesting, with many articles on button history.
-Editor
Hello! Thank you for visiting our online Button Museum!
Since pinback buttons were patented in 1896, people have found many ways to express their life events through buttons. We created the Button Museum to show how people commemorated noteworthy times in their lives by creating and collecting these wearable mementos. The words, artwork, printing style, color, and size were the final result of a vision they wanted to communicate or be a part of. Buttons tell a peoples' history like anything else!
The physical museum is located in Busy Beaver Button Co.'s office where custom buttons are made!
We also happily accept button donations!
Joel and Christen Carter
(brother/sister button making/collecting duo)
The Button Museum
3407 W. Armitage Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647
A big THANK YOU to Ted Hake who founded Hake's Americana, where you can find an amazing selection of buttons (and other stuff!) for your collection. You will be hard-pressed to find anyone who knows more about button history than Ted! He also started a site to sell some buttons tedhake.com, and has hundreds and hundreds for sale!
To connect with other button collectors, we belong to the APIC. We suggest you join, too!
The Button Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit...
The Button Museum relies on interns and volunteers, without them this wouldn't be possible. If you'd like to volunteer, email Rachel Esser, Archive Manager and Internship Coordinator, at internship@buttonmuseum.org.
The site lists a very impressive list of interns who've helped out.
Long live button collecting!
-Editor
For more information, see:
https://www.buttonmuseum.org/
https://www.buttonmuseum.org/about
Wayne Homren, Editor
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.
To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor
at this address: whomren@gmail.com
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