Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

BUTTON MAKER

Date Range From

2017

Date Range To

2021

Materials

PLASTIC, METAL

No. Pieces

2

Height

49.5

Length

29.0

Width

16.1

Description

A. RED TOWER-STYLE BUTTON PRESS WITH BLACK BASE PLATE. METAL FRAME ENCASED IN RED MOLDED PLASTIC TO FORM BODY OF MACHINE, BLACK PLASTIC HANDLE, METAL DIE PARTS ON PLASTIC MOUNT, ENTIRE MACHINE SITS ON A BLACK PLASTIC BASE PLATE. HANDLE HAS A WHITE PAINT SPOT ON TOP AND SCRATCHES, METAL ROD MAKING UP HANDLE HAS SCRATCHES PRESENT THROUGHOUT, RUSTING ON PIN, PLASTIC MOUNT HAS OIL RESIDUE UNDERNEATH DIE PARTS, PLASTIC BODY HAS TWO HOLES ON LEFT AND RIGHT SIDE, PLASTIC BASE HAS MARKS ON FRONT. OVERALL GOOD CONDITION. 49.5CM HGT X 29.0CM LTH X 16.1CM WTH B. WHITE PLASTIC PIN-BACKING FOR BUTTON. DUST PRESENT ALONG EDGES OF TOP, GREEN STAINING ALONG EDGE ON BOTTOM, DIRT PARTICLES ON BOTTON. EXCELLENT CONDITION 3.0CM DIA

Subjects

VISUAL COMMUNICATION T&E

Historical Association

ASSOCIATIONS

COMMEMORATIVE

History

ON JUNE 8, 2021, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED DERRICK ANTSON ABOUT THE LETHBRIDGE PRIDE FEST SOCIETY’S DONATION OF A RED BUTTON PRESS. ANTSON EXPLAINED HOW THE LETHBRIDGE PRIDE FEST SOCIETY DECIDED ON PURCHASING A BUTTON MAKER: “SO I WAS A VOLUNTEER WITH [THE] LETHBRIDGE PRIDE FEST SOCIETY… WE PURCHASED THE BUTTON MAKER [IN 2017] TO HELP GENERATE FUNDS. THIS WAS IDENTIFIED AS A LOW-COST ENDEAVOR WE COULD DO TO MAKE BUTTONS TO HELP KEEP REVENUE COMING IN YEAR-ROUND AND TO BE MORE ADAPTIVE; ADAPTIVE TO THE QUEER COMMUNITY AND VISUALIZE [UNDERREPRESENTED] VISUALS…” ANTSON CONTINUED ON TO WHERE THE BUTTON MAKER WAS PURCHASE: “…WE WENT ONLINE. I HONESTLY REMEMBER GOOGLING JUST ‘BUTTON MAKER’ AND GETTING A FEW OPTIONS AND BECAUSE COST WAS A BIG FACTOR WE WANTED TO GET THE CHEAPEST ONE POSSIBLE. WE ENDED UP ORDERING ONE FROM CHINA… BUT IT WAS A COUPLE OF HUNDRED DOLLARS AND IT TOOK A MONTH AND A BIT TO ARRIVE, SORT OF THING.” ON THE IMPORTANCE OF LOWERING THE PRICE-POINT FOR THE COMMUNITY, ANTSON CLARIFIED: “…IN THE PRIDE COMMUNITY THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A LOT OF LIKE - YOU HAVE TO SPEND YOUR MONEY IN A COST-EFFECTIVE WAY THAT THE RAINBOWS, THE TRANS FLAGS, THE BI FLAGS ARE EVENLY ACCESSIBLE… [BUTTONS] HAVE SUCH A LOW OVERHEAD THAT WHEN WE GET REQUESTS, WE CAN QUICKLY TURN IT AROUND AND IT ALLOWS US TO BE A LOT MORE BROAD AND A LOT MORE INCLUSIVE [WITH THE OFFERINGS] ‘CAUSE WE CAN ACTUALLY SHOW EVERYTHING RATHER THAN JUST THE GENERIC RAINBOW.” ANTSON EXPLAINED WHAT THE LETHBRIDGE PRIDE FEST SOCIETY DID BEFORE PURCHASING THE BUTTON MAKER: “…IN A SENSE THE SOCIETY HAD DONE BUTTONS BEFORE. [LETHBRIDGE PRIDE FEST SOCIETY] HAD PURCHASED [THE BUTTONS] COMPLETELY MADE WHICH BROUGHT A HEAVY PRICE TAG, AND THEY WERE FAIRLY RESTRICTIVE OF WHAT WE COULD GET [FOR DESIGNS]. SO, THE IDEA WAS AT A BOARD MEETING [WHERE] WE BOUGHT OUR OWN BUTTON MAKER; WE SOURCED OUR OWN MATERIAL TO MAKE THEM; THE PRINTING OF THE STICKERS AND THEN THE METAL BACKING, THE PLASTIC COVERS. WE COULD BE MORE BROAD WITH WHAT WE OFFERED [VISUALLY] AND ACTUALLY OBTAIN EVERYTHING AT A LOWER PRICE POINT AND BRING THE PRICE POINT DOWN FOR THE COMMUNITY WHO WOULD BE BUYING THE BUTTONS.” “…BUTTONS WOULD COME AND GO. AS A SOCIETY, THERE’D BE A FEW YEARS WHERE WE’D GET, LIKE, A NEW LOGO SO THEY’D GET A ROUND OF BUTTONS FOR THAT LOGO. THERE’D BE ANOTHER YEAR, I THINK, THEY HAD LIKE A BIG EVENT SO THEY COULD SOURCE BUTTONS. BUT IT’D BE SOMETHING THAT WOULD COME AND GO DEPENDING WHO OUR MERCHANDIZER WAS THAT YEAR, BUT NOTHING [LETHBRIDGE PRIDE FEST] HAD DONE TO A GREAT EXTENT.” ON HOW MEMBERS WOULD UTILIZE THE BUTTON MAKER, ANTSON STATED: “INITIALLY, THE PLAN WAS WE WOULD ALL TAKE TURNS [MAKING BUTTONS]… I DESIGNED ALL THE GRAPHICS FOR WHEN WE NEEDED TO DESIGN THEM OR WE WOULD FIND A FEW OPEN-SOURCE IMAGES. THE U OF L (PRINTING SERVICES) PRINTED THEM AND WE HAD A GOOD SET OF VOLUNTEERS WHO SAT DOWN AND MANUALLY CUT OUT ALL THE FIRST ROUND [DESIGNS]… WE WOULD ALL TAKE TURNS DOING ABOUT A HUNDRED AT A TIME. WE PASSED IT OFF. SO, I DID MINE IN PROBABLY AN HOUR OR TWO, IF THAT? I HANDED OFF TO THE NEXT PERSON… [AND] THEY COULDN’T GET THE BUTTON MAKER TO WORK SO IT DESTROYED THE PLASTIC AND THE METAL...” “… ‘CAUSE IT WAS ALWAYS A WEIRD THING. I’D SHOW SOMEONE HOW [TO USE THE BUTTON MAKER] – LIKE, WE’D PULL OUT THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL THAT CAME WITH THE BUTTON MAKER. I’D SHOW THEM HOW TO USE IT, IT WORKED PERFECTLY… THE NEXT PERSON, WHO WAS SITTING RIGHT BESIDE ME, WOULD DO ALL THE STEPS IN THE EXACT SAME WAY AND THE BUTTON WOULD BECOME BUGGERED. AND SO, IT WAS THE WEIRDEST THING THAT THE BUTTON MAKER SEEMED TO ONLY WANT TO WORK FOR ME AND EVERYONE ELSE WOULD HAVE A 50/50 SUCCESS RATE, AT BEST. THE DECISION WAS MADE [THAT] IN ORDER TO PROTECT COSTS, ‘CAUSE WE’D HAD SPENT MONEY… PRINTING THEM, HAVING ALL THE METALS AND THE PLASTICS SHIPPED TO US… ‘DERRICK, YOU PICKED THE BUTTON MAKER; IT’S YOURS TO USE NOW,’ AND I SPENT MANY, MANY NIGHT OF WATCHING TV POWERING THROUGH BUTTONS.” ANTSON COMMENTED ON THE FIRST ROUND DESIGNS: “…SO THE FIRST BATCH [OF BUTTONS] (IN 2018)- I THINK WE HAD PROBABLY TWENTY DIFFERENT BUTTONS PRINTED AND WE HAD A HUNDRED OF EACH OF THOSE TWENTY DIFFERENT BUTTONS. SO WE DID THE INITIAL PRIDE FLAG OF SIX COLOURS; WE DID THE PHILADELPHIA PRIDE FLAG AND WE DID [THE] PROGRESSIVE PRIDE FLAG; WE DID THE LESBIANS, ALL THE STANDARD LETTERS OF THE LGBTQ; WE DID OUR PRIDE-FEST LOGO, THE TRANS FLAG; WE DID A FEW WITTY SAYINGS, AND WE DID ALL OF THOSE IN THE INITIAL BATCH AND THE IDEA WAS TO GET THEM READY. THAT WAY, WE’D HAVE THEM [ALREADY MADE] FOR PROMOTIONAL EVENTS … AND ONE LESS THING WE HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT.” ANTSON EXPLAINED HOW IT WAS DECIDED WHAT DESIGNS WERE USED FOR THE FIRST BATCH OF BUTTONS: “…INITIAL DECISION MAKINGS WERE ELIZABETH (HEGERAT) AND I… BUT I USED A PROGRAM ON THE COMPUTER, AND IT WAS ALL THE SIMPLE [DESIGNS]. SO, A LOT OF THE FLAGS ARE JUST STANDARD LINES THAT GO ONE WAY. I COLOUR-MATCHED THE COLOURS. SO THOSE ONES WERE ABLE TO BE BUILT FROM SCRATCH. THEN ELIZABETH AND I WOULD FIND TERRIBLE PUNS OR FUN SAYINGS THAT WE THEN TURNED INTO BUTTONS. WE ALSO THEN OPENED UP THE INVITATION TO THE BOARD AT LARGE SAYING, ‘IF YOU WANT BUTTONS, WE HAVEN’T PUT IN THE ORDER YET, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ONES YOU SAW?’…SO WE GOT A FEW [DESIGNS] THAT WAY.” “…THEN, EVEN DURING PRIDE MONTH - SO WHILE WE WERE RUNNING EVENTS, PRINTING, SELLING STUFF WE HAD, WE HAD A COMMUNITY MEMBER WALK UP TO US AND THEY SAID THEY IDENTIFIED AS A DEMI-BOY. ‘DO YOU HAVE ANY OF THOSE BUTTONS?’ AND AT THE TIME, WE DIDN’T, SO WITHIN 24 HOURS WE HAD THAT [DEMI-BOY] BUTTON DESIGNED… AND WE ACTUALLY FOUND THAT PERSON TWO DAYS LATER AT THE EVENT, SAYING, ‘WE NOW HAVE THIS BUTTON,’ AND THEY WERE ABLE TO BUY IT AND IT WAS THE FIRST TIME, ACTUALLY, THEY WERE ABLE TO GET THE FLAG OF THE IDENTITY THAT THEY IDENTIFY AS AND PUT IT ON THEIR BACKPACK.” ON HOW 2018 STANDS OUT AS A YEAR OF THE BUTTON MAKER’S USE, ANTSON RELFECTED: “…I HAD BEEN ON THE [LETHBRIDGE PRIDE FEST] BOARD FOR A LOT OF YEARS AND I KNEW I WAS GOING TO BE TAKING A LEAVE. IN THAT CASE THE LEAVE JUST COINCIDED WITH ME ALSO MOVING AWAY SIX MONTHS LATER, BUT I WANTED TO LEAVE THE ASSOCIATION, THE ORGANIZATION, WITH AS MUCH [BUTTONS] AS POSSIBLE. SO, MY GOAL WAS TO MAKE THEM A RESERVOIR OF TWENTY THOUSAND BUTTONS. THAT WAY, IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS, PEOPLE WOULDN’T HAVE TO WORK AS HARD OR THEY WOULDN’T HAVE TO WORK ON THE [DESIGN] STAPLES; THEY COULD DO THE FUNNER SCENES OR, AS QUEER IDENTITIES DEVELOPED, THEY COULD EXPLORE THOSE THINGS WITHOUT HAVING TO MAKE TWO-HUNDRED RAINBOWS IN A NIGHT… WHEN I WAS GIVING ALL THE STUFF AWAY, I THINK I HANDED ELIZABETH AN APPLE BOX, LIKE A GROCERY STORE APPLE BOX … OF SOLID BUTTONS JUST TO SAY, ‘THESE ARE BUTTONS ALREADY MADE; YOU’RE GOOD TO GO,’ AND THAT WAY THEY WERE ABLE JUST TO DO OTHER THINGS OR THEY WERE ABLE TO THEN SAY, ‘EVERY BUTTON I MAKE I’M ALSO GOING TO BREAK A BUTTON,’ AND THAT WOULD BE OKAY, AS WELL.” ANTSON COMMENTED: “…I’M HAPPY, I’M OVERJOYED TO HEAR [THAT] LETHBRIDGE PRIDE GOT A NEW BUTTON-MAKER THAT PEOPLE, EVERYONE, IS ABLE TO USE RATHER THAN JUST ONE PERSON, ‘CAUSE IT’S KEEPING THOSE BUTTONS ALIVE AND KEEPING FOLKS’ IDENTITY AND VISIONS OF THEMSELVES IN PRIDE, ALIVE.” FOR FURTHER INFORMATION INCLUDING ARCHIVAL RESEARCH AND TO SEE THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS, PLEASE SEE THE DONATION’S PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20210008000

Acquisition Date

2021-06

Collection

Museum

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