Brown text on a blue background with an oval window around a thermometer

Early in his career, Gabriel Felsenthal was a watchmaker, but this would eventually lead him to making jewelry, vanity cases and advertising novelties like celluloid buttons. His company, G. Felsenthal & Sons was established around 1896 in Chicago as a wholesale jewelry company. Soon after he left that company to his brother and started a new company in 1898 that specialized in advertising novelties. With his interest in cameras and his background in watch and jewelry making, he was able to use his skills and knowledge to specialize in the use of photographic images in his advertising novelties like buttons and vanity cases.

Beginning during World War II, the company was a major manufacturer of plastic calculating instruments used by the Army Air Forces and by the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics. This proved so successful that they became known as The Felsenthal Instrument Company and continued to make a variety of plastic items for commercial and technical purposes until 1976.

Black and white headshot photograph of a woman with black rectangle with white text below it inside a circle with an American flag style background and blue and white text outside that

Parisian Novelty Company was established in Chicago in 1898. For over a century, the company manufactured many advertising items and novelties, including compacts, tape measures, and buttons. In addition to being a pioneer in the production of celluloid novelties, Parisian Novelty Company was well-known as a photo button manufacturer at the beginning of the 20th century.

This button was used as a sample to show customers what an employee identification badge would look like. There is a small window in the front of the button, behind which a photograph is placed.

Black text on a blue background

Bastian Brothers Company was opened in 1895 in Rochester, New York by siblings Theron and Frederick Bastian. Originally a jewelry store, the company quickly began producing customized badges, paperweights, lapel pins, and award products. Bastian Brothers is a totally unionized firm, and all of its products continue to be made in the United States. Its employees wore buttons as a form of employee identification. Though most have a small window in the front of the button, behind which a photograph is placed, some only include the employee number.

Black text on a copper background

Adcraft Manufacturing Co is a private company located in Broadview, Illinois. This small business has been manufacturing plastic products since 1976. 

Black text on a white background

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Red and black text on a white background

Promotional item for Western Supply Co, Advertising Novelties, from Des Moines, Iowa. Printed by Whitehead & Hoag Co., who were the largest manufacturer of buttons in the world before their patents expired and the development of the small printing press. This trend continues today with promotional items created for advertising across industries.

Blue and red text on a white background

Western Supply Co, Advertising Novelties, from Des Moines, Iowa, has been around since 1926. Now known as Great Western Supply, they have been providing cleaning and janitorial products, among other sundries, to the greater quad cities area.

This promotional item was printed by Whitehead & Hoag Co., who were the largest manufacturer of buttons in the world before their patents expired and the development of the small printing press.

White illustration of cartoon face peering out on the left with a lenticular eye (watches you as you move), red text on white background.

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Illusttration in glow in the dark of clouds with rain falling from them onto the ground on a black background

Sonny is a Chicago based street artist who became popular in the late aughts for their raincloud imagery featured across the city of Chicago, Illinois. In 2002, the Busy Beaver Button Museum began hosting a yearly collaborative button collection titled “So and So’s Button-O-Matic,” aimed at collaborating with artists through pinback button designs made accessible through vending or gumball machines. The project was later rebranded as simply “Button-O-Matic,” in 2008 with that year’s collection titled “Glow.” Sonny was one of the artists asked to participate in the collection, creating their signature raincloud motif that ironically points to their namesake. 

This button is part of the 2008 “Glow” Button-O-Matic series (the buttons glow in the dark) produced by Busy Beaver Button Company. The Button-O-Matic is a gumball style vending machine that dispenses limited edition art buttons.

Illustration in glow in the dark of a face with hair and eyes closed on a black background

The Little Friends of Printmaking is the creative idea of artists and designers JW and Melissa Buchanan. The husband-and-wife team of illustrators and printmakers is currently based in Los Angeles. Their work has appeared in WIRED magazine and the book New Masters of Poster Design. The images are bold and multi-colored, featuring animals, buildings, and nature. Many of the designs are silly and filled with intricate details, like a bear wearing a tie using a typewriter. In addition to screen-printed art, they also produce patches, socks, keychains, and lapel pins. Professionally they have created artwork for album covers, concerts, clothing, and advertising.

This button is part of the 2008 “Glow” Button-O-Matic series (the buttons glow in the dark) produced by Busy Beaver Button Company. The Button-O-Matic is a gumball-style vending machine that dispenses limited edition art buttons.