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The political hobby grew out of the numismatic hobby, as late nineteenth century collectors began to take an interest in political tokens and medals. Numismatists have always been interested in mint marks—they want to know where their coins were made. An uncirculated buffalo nickel dated 1913 may be worth $335, but if there is a tiny mint mark indicating the coin was made in San Francisco, the value can soar to $4,000. Some collectors especially seek out the marks of certain mints—O for New Orleans, or CC for Carson City, Nevada.
Many button collectors are interested in the history of the industry that made all those celluloid buttons we love to collect. No doubt a very interesting collection could be made by collecting one button from every manufacturer and jobber. Such a collection would have hundreds of items included. But how does the collector know who manufactured a certain button?
The most common way manufacturers identified the products they made was to print little round papers, and insert them in the back of the buttons. The backpaper might include the name and logo of the manufacturer, the patent dates, and perhaps a "union bug" showing which labor group the button workers belonged to. No one ever perfected a machine for inserting backpapers, and button companies would pay local families to insert the papers while working at home. Children would show up at the factories to pick up boxes of buttons, pins, and backpapers, and take them home for the family to assemble. By the 1930s trucks would deliver boxes of button parts to rural families living in the region, then return the next day to pick up the finished buttons.
Several button collectors have done a yeomen's service in making the results of their extensive research available to collectors. J. Scharre Thompson compiled a massive collection of buttons, each with a different backpaper. She then cataloged the names of the companies, providing the dates of operation by examining old business directories. Her catalog was published as a part of the book Price Guide to Collectible Pinback Buttons, by Ted Hake & Russ King.
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Thus if you find a button made by the Newman Manufacturing Company of Cleveland, a quick look at Ms. Thompson's list shows that the company was active in the early 1930s. While we don't know the exact dates of the company, we do know they seem not to have been around making buttons in 1896 or in 1950. Any button you find from this manufacturer is probably from around the early 1930s. We can't make that statement emphatically certain, because like all good lists Ms. Thompson's will need regular correction and updates as new buttons are discovered and cataloged.
Taking J. Scharre Thompson's work a step farther were Stewart and Emily Barr, who studied the changes in backpaper design over time for each manufacturer. Ted Hake did some additional work along these lines, and the result was a guide to backpaper designs, published by Hake in Collectible Pinback Buttons. This guide helps with the dating of buttons. If you have a button with a Western Badge & Novelty Company backpaper, check to see if the backpaper design includes a large B and a large S (see illustration below). If it does, the button dates from roughly 1921-35. If produced before 1921 it would likely have a large B but not a large S. If produced after 1935 it would have no large letters, but would have a bold line above the printing, and also one below. Once again we can't assume scientific precision here, since for example there might be a period of a year or so when a company phased in a new backpaper but was also using up its old supply. This catalog too, will need to be updated as time goes by and new discoveries are made.
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Whitehead & Hoag recognized the value of the backpapers as advertising. The firm charged more to customers who insisted on buying buttons without the Whitehead & Hoag name on them. The days of the backpaper were numbered, however. To many manufacturers it seemed silly to have to contract work out to hundreds of families (inserting the backpapers) when cheaper alternatives were available. Bastian Brothers, for example, stopped using backpapers around 1916, and instead impressed a logo into the metal area formerly covered by the backpaper. Manufacturers like Bastian Brothers and the St. Louis Button Company also began (sometimes) to print the name of their firm along the curl. In this way the manufacturer's name was still visible on the back, but the cost to the manufacturer for marking the button was much less. By the late 1940s backpapers were becoming uncommon, while by the late 1950s they were scarce.
Backpapers allow us a rare glimpse into the history of button manufacturers, and can often help us date the buttons in our collection. Just as the coin collector is thrilled to find a silver dollar from the Carson City mint, the button collector may be very pleased to add a pinback to his or her collection from the elusive Torsch & Lee Company of Baltimore, active only for a short time at the very end of the 19th century. J. Scharre Thompson in her brief published "confession" stated that backpapers can become a kind of obsession, and says she published her catalog as a kind of catharsis. Still, obsession with backpapers is a relatively harmless obsession, even an educational one. For the serious collector, finding a new backpaper is a red letter event!
| © 1997 by Stephen Cresswell |
Sources: One great source for the history of buttons, manufacturers, and backpapers is Ted Hake and Russ King's Price Guide to Collectible Pinback Buttons. This book includes such features as "History of the Whitehead & Hoag Company" by Gary Patterson, a collection of advertisements by button manufacturers, J. Scharre Thompson's catalog of button manufacturers and jobbers, and "Dating Celluloid Buttons" by Ted Hake. This book is copyright 1986 and 1991 and was published by the Wallace-Homestead Book Company. Copies are available on Cresswell's List and from a number of other political collectibles dealers.
Stewart and Emily Barr's original study of backpapers was published in Collectibles Monthly in November 1978.
Illustration Sources: The colored backpaper is from the inventory of Cresswell's List (Pennypacker for Governor button). The other illustrations are from Ted Hake and Russ King, Price Guide to Collectible Pinback Buttons.