“Hornet plus three” buttons are worn here by the Apollo 11 crew while they were quarantined after returning from the moon. After all, who knows what they could have caught up there?
Thanks to Lena Milcarek for spotting these historic (and rare!) buttons.
According to this vintage button from 1960s and it’s spokes-cow, “Milk Drinkers Make Better Lovers.”
Do they? Valentine’s Day is coming up, and only time will tell. Check out this badge on Hake’s here.
You may know Russell Quan from the Mummies, Phantom Surfers, and BobbyTeens, as well as the epic badges he wears ’round the Bay Area.
He’s a button hero! This snapshot is from the Louie Report.
My love for buttons dates back to childhood. As a teen I called them “pins” and collected them from bands, museums, and campaigns.
The other day my mom asked, “Do you want to see your first button?”
Pictured is the badge my parents received in 1985 from the hospital when I was born. It’s a sentimental keepsake that measures just 2-inches, which makes it easy to hang on to in a memory box.
Netflix-fans are watching the streaming, early nineties sitcom, The Larry Sanders show. It’s a pre-cursor to Curb Your Enthusiasm in humor!
*SPOILER ALERT* In Season 3, Episode 3, a waitress makes a preposterous claim about Larry Sanders. She enters this scene, and wears a legible, 2.25-inch button with Hank Kingsley’s catchphrase, “HEY NOW” as you can see in the screenshot.
BUTTONS ARE EVERYWHERE!
Busy Beaver Button Maker alum and Lynard’s Innards front man Jay Castaldi wrote today’s buttoned up album cover feature about the self-titled major label debut by the amazing old LA powerpop band 20/20, released in 1979 on Epic records.
As you see, the front cover has a photo of them reflected in some shiny ceramic tile, or perhaps a mirror of them standing in front of some shiny ceramic tile.
The grid pattern formed by the ceramic tile walls and the black and white checkerboard pattern floor tile are, of course, hallmarks of powerpop and new wave design from that era. Throw in that pair of dirty white Keds sneakers and there should be little doubt that we’re looking at a powerpop record cover.
A closer look shows that the fellow furthest to the left on the cover is wearing a snazzy 20/20 button, which you can see in the close-up detail view of the album here. Cool, right?!
Several years ago, he appropriated an approximation of that design for a Lynyrd’s Innards button. To my knowledge, the Lynyrd’s Innards version has never been featured on an album cover.
Jay also saw 20/20 play in Austin at the Radio Heartbeat powerpop festival in the summer of 2008, and they still got it. Surprisingly great, even after all these years.
—Jay Castaldi
Longtime football rivals Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers play each other this weekend for the NFC championship. The winner goes to the Super Bowl!
Here are some vintage Bears buttons from the Busy Beaver Button Museum.
We hope to add a new 2011 Championship button to our collection!
Fred Henzel is an artist and button-maker here at Busy Beaver Button Co. Pictured here are one of a kind, hand-illustrated buttons he made.
View his paintings in Chicago at Surplus of Options on Lincoln and Waveland and Cork Lounge on Addison and Lincoln. Check out the Fred Henzel website for upcoming exhibitions as well.
This 3-inch psychedelic button from 1966 reads, “Bill Graham Presents Blues-Rock Bash II/The Butterfield Blues Band/Jefferson Airplane/Muddy Waters/In Dance-Concert At Winterland/Fillmore Aud.” Sweet, right?
Psych Fest starts tomorrow at The Hideout in Chicago, featuring buttoned up bands like Plastic Crimewave, Black Wyrm Seed, Great Society Mind Destroyers, Black Fog, and more.
Checkout this rare psych button on Hake’s website.
