© 2003 Marni Landes.

Lithographic Buttons

Lithographic political buttons were first used in the 1920 presidential campaign. Lithography on metal had been used since the beginning of the twentieth century in the manufacture of industrial goods and toys. Their advantage over celluloid buttons is in their cost saving. Their disadvantage is that they are easily scratched, chipped, and do not allow the intricate designs possible with celluloid buttons. They are simply a piece of thin, flat, lithographed steel punched from a large sheet and curled around the edges over a dye. They are worn with a pin that is snapped into place behind the curled edge.

(L to R) Franklin Roosevelt, 1940; Franklin Roosevelt and Henry Wallace jugate, 1940; James M. Cox and Franklin Roosevelt jugate, 1920; Mother Bloom, Communist Party, 1930's; Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, 1920; Spanish Civil War, 1938; Anti- Nazi Germany, 1930's; Sputnik satellite, 1957; World War II patriotic mechanical, c. 1943; Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver jugate, 1956