Grannie’s Button Tin

Everyone has a button jar, basket, box or tin.  It’s where we put those extra buttons that hang on the tags of new clothing, the ones we scoop out of the lint trap, and the single buttons of unknown origin that are simply too pretty to throw away.  If you’re lucky, you may have your grandmother’s or great grandmother’s button tin, in which case it may be filled with colorful plastic gems in the form of vintage bakelite buttons.

Popular Bakelite Buttons

For years, buttons were made of glass, porcelain, wood, pottery composite, celluloid, and metal, but by the 1930’s, the most common material was Bakelite.  Invented in 1907 by Belgian born scientist Dr. Leo Baekeland, the material was developed for industrial uses, but by the 1930’s Bakelite and similar Catalin were enormously popular materials for fashion buttons.  Available in a pleasing array of colors and impervious to heat and moisture, plastic could be carved, molded or laminated into a variety of shapes and styles.

Buttons in Whimsical and Common Forms

Usually sew through types, these buttons tend to be small and are reproductions of a variety of common items featuring everything from golf clubs to guitars, carrots to cocktails.  A series of animal buttons included a Scottie dog, inspired by Franklin Roosevelt’s Terrier Fala.  Sears Roebuck offered a dress with alphabet buttons that could be arranged to spell the wearer’s name.

 Bakelite Carved Platter Buttons for Coats

These heavily detailed buttons could be as large as 2 ½’’ and were typically found on coats, which is why they are almost always black or brown.  During the depression, folks wore their coats season after season, and button updates were a cheap way to perk up a tired garment.

Bakelite Cookie Buttons

These flat, sew through buttons were sliced off a Bakelite rod in which two colors were mixed to form a usually geometric pattern.  Named thus for their resemblance to cookies made from sliced rolls of dough.

Button Values

Because of the popularity of Bakelite buttons in their day and the fact that every housewife had a sewing basket full of loose buttons, they’re still fairly easy to find. Individual buttons can bring $3-6 each.  Sets on original cards are easily found at antique shows from dealers of vintage textiles and sewing notions.  Sets usually contain 5 or 6 buttons, and can range in price from $20-$40 or more depending on size, color, form and complexity.  As with most collectibles, crossover appeal drives up prices.  A set of six 1939 World’s Fair Bakelite figural buttons on their original card sold on eBay for $42.