1920s Flapper

Illustration of woman looking into a hand mirror on a white background with a black scalloped border around edge of button.

Through the 1940s, pocket mirrors were a popular advertising opportunity, given that the back of the mirror would be on display whenever the user pulled it out in public to check their reflection. Today, unusual and inventive mirrors can frequently be sold at auction for hundreds of dollars to collectors.

This art deco illustration is part of a more risque category of pocket mirror, metamorphic, that creates a different image when held upside down. The primary view is a woman putting on makeup in a mirror, while the inverted view is a woman's legs.

Founder of Busy Beaver, Christen Carter, cited this button as one of her favorites in an interview with McSweeney's.