Black text on white background with union bug stamped on back.

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Portrait of a man looking slightly away to the right of the picture. He wears a bow tie, a black blazer with a button on his left breast,  and white shirt.

Photographic pinback buttons made with celluloid material were extremely popular from the late 1800s to the 1930s.  It was during the 1860s that photography became more available on the commercial market. Humphrey E. Copley of Connecticut sought a patent in 1861 to incorporate photographs onto buttons by utilizing a metal rim to hold the photograph in place. This technology coincided with the Civil War and mourners embraced the option of being able to wear visual representations of their loved ones. John Wesley Hyatt was an American inventor who received a patent for a product named celluloid in 1870. After refinement of the initial product, Hyatt’s celluloid became the first commercially profitable synthetic material. United States patent records reflect the usage of celluloid in making buttons with photographs in the late 1880s. In 1893 Benjamin S. Whitehead acquired a patent for using celluloid over the photo to protect the image. The increased availability of photography coupled with the ability of manufacturers to produce buttons inexpensively allowed the public to create a fashion fad out of the desire to have portable keepsakes.  

Black background with white text with two goats butting heads. 

A play on words where the text reads "just a button," and the goats are  just a 'buttin' their heads together. 

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Blue text on white background

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Yellow text centered on a red background.

Underground Uplift Unlimited (UUU) was an ephemera shop in the East Village run by Randy Wicker. They created and sold some of the most worn protest buttons of the 60s. 

Black and yellow background with black and yellow text over opposite colored background.

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Black text on light blue background.

The button text is a playful adaptation from the 1999 comedy film Office Space, where the boss, Bill Lumbergh, tells his employees that Friday will be Hawaiian shirt day:

"Oh, and remember: next Friday... is Hawaiian shirt day. So, you know, if you want to, go ahead and wear a Hawaiian shirt and jeans."

This button was manufactured by the Busy Beaver Button Co.

Black text on brown "packing wrap" background.

Field Notes is the product of a partnership between Coudal Partners and the Draplin Design Company. Through their notebooks, Field Notes pays homage to the "vanishing subculture of agricultural memo books and ornate pocket ledgers."

This button was manufactured by the Busy Beaver Button Co.

Black text on white background.

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Beige background with green letters

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