button types
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Celluloid
Buttons
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Celluloid buttons
Celluloid buttons are the most popular form of political memorabilia.
They are round metal disks covered with a printed paper and then topped
off with a thin piece of clear celluloid. They are intended to be worn
on clothing by means of several types of pins that are part of the back
of the button. Today, only celluloid buttons, lithograph buttons, and
political jewelry are manufactured as political lapel devices.
The origin of the celluloid button comes shortly after the invention
of celluloid itself, in the 1870s. In the 1880s, celluloid made its first
appearance on political memorabilia in thick pieces that were molded to
look like candidates or as frames around cardboard photos. It is the use
of celluloid in thin clear sheets that made the modern political button
a reality. Celluloid buttons first appeared in the election of 1896. Although
not the first manufacturer of celluloid buttons, it was the company of
Whitehead and Hoag of New Jersey that popularized the button with their
patented design. The period between 1896 and the mid- twenties is generally
considered to be the "classic" period of button design. In this
period, some of the most beautiful and ornate buttons were manufactured.
The most expensive celluloid buttons are also from this period. Buttons
had several different back designs. The Whitehead and Hoag type has a
hollow back, which typically contained a small piece of paper with the
manufacturer's advertising during the classic period. Back papers are
no longer used.
Celluloid buttons are generally superior in quality to lithographic buttons
and, therefore, more collectable.
(L to R) Spanish American War 1898; Sitting Bull, Pepsin Gum premium,1905; William McKinley, 1900; Williams Jennings Bryan, 1908; Theodore Roosevelt, 1904; John G Woolley, Prohibition Candidate 1904; Woodrow Wilson, 1916; Hanly and Landrith, Prohibition, 1916; Eugene V. Debbs, Socialist, 1900-1920 campaigns; Women's Suffrage c. 1915; Ku Klux Klan, 1930s; Anti-Prohibition c. 1930
(L to R) Peace button, Yellow Submarine, 1968; Pro-Viet Nam War, c. 1970; Richard Nixon, 1968; George McGovern and Shriver Jugate, 1972; George Wallace, 1968; Jimmy Carter, 1976; Gerald Ford and Robert Dole Jugate, 1976; Anti-Richard Nixon, c. 1974; Lester Maddox, 1976; Jimmy Carter, Inauguration, 1977