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One inch Button Badges were first produced in the USA towards the end of the Nineteenth Century as a low cost alternative to the medallions, pendants and "badges" of the day that were expensive to make.

Button Badges were invented by a New Jersey company called Whitehead and Hoag in 1896 although they started out with a cloth front.  It started with a patch that was sewn on to jackets, mostly used in the Military to identify rankings and personnel. A metal collar was stamped into the back, clipping the cloth in place and pulling it tight across the front of the shell.

Button Badges became the most prominent thing for collectors just like postal stamps. Scouting Organizations were just so excited about the badges they started using it to show in what group and rank the scouts were. Different types of badges were introduced through the times.

In 1869, John Wesley Hyatt, another American had invented “celluloid”, which is a durable thermoplastic that could be printed on and was durable enough to stamp.  In 1896, Whitehead and Hoag improved their cloth badges by swapping the cloth for the celluloid and thus producing the first Button Badges as we know them.

History of the Button Badge

Thin sheets of celluloid could be used to cover paper and give the effect of the traditional enamel badge without the cost or labour skills needed to work with enamel. It also meant that less metal could be used in producing badges and there was no longer any need for soldering or screwing.

All that was needed was a printed image and a thin sheet of celluloid to cover it (both cut the size, usually circular and one inch in diameter, with the celluloid slightly overlapping the paper so that it would hold it in place). A pressed metal shell was produced and a simple machine used to press the paper, celluloid and shell together. A metal ring was then attached to the back of the badge to hold the badge together, again by the use of a simple press. Finally a pin was clipped into the back of the badge so that it could be fixed to an item of clothing.

As the original Button Badges were a simple advance in the trouser Buttons being 1 inch or roughly 25mm in diameter and the badges were made in the same way as the clothing buttons they were and still are called “Button Badges” or Pins.  In the USA, they are simply called Buttons.

A Badge Maker today would still make Button Badges in the same way but with slightly different materials and with safer fastenings.

At this time metal Enamel Badges were the only badge pins or promotional badges available. Enamel lapel pins were extremely popular however they were expensive. The new “Button Badge” was such a popular alternative promotional item that that in the first year over a million Button Badges were made.

In the early years Button Badges were used to promote sports stars, actors and politicians. They were given as promotional gifts and incentives when a packet of cigarettes was bought. They were even given to promote political messages in England during the Boer War with messages like “England expects every man to do his duty”

Some of the first button badges to appear in the UK were produced to celebrate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897 as they were cheap to produce, cheap to buy and made excellent souvenirs on such a huge occasion.

Today's love of button badges dates back to the 1960s and early Seventies when they were used by students, hippies and musicians as a symbol of protest. John Lennon for one loved them and from then onwards the one inch button badge has always been seen as a cool thing to wear.

It was the arrival of the Sex Pistols and punk in 1976 that was to make the button badge an essential fashion statement. For the next decade, people all over the world displayed their allegiance to a band, music, youth cult or cause by wearing one or more button badges. Despite lulls in their popularity since, they remain a firm favourite today and are certainly one of the most popular promotional items on the market.