Over the years, pinbacks could be found with just about any imagery imaginable: politics, pop culture (Little Orphan Annie, Beatles, Alfred E Neuman), advertisements, you name it. But the little round 'billboards' seemed to explode in popularity during the first half of the 80's. New wave fashion often made use of the pins, and in the process gave us some very cool graphics. Bands were a frequent sight on pins. And the pins were a frequent sight on the fans. Some kids had jackets covered with so many pins they looked like chain mail armor. I wore quite a few, but not so many as to clank as I walked...
And now, a plethora of pinback pictures from my personal pile for you to ponder and peruse...
On the left, some advertising-themed buttons. Before you ask, I have no idea what Tony's "Astronaut Breakfast Game" was. On the right, some miscellaneous ones:
Here we have a selection of musically themed buttons. Note the preponderance of 80's New wave here...
As comic fans, how could we not include some appropriately comic buttons? Note the "Shmoo" pin on the right: wonderful creatures from Al Capp's "Lil' Abner" strip. And yes, I was one who ordered a Howard the Duck presidential pin from Steve Gerber in '76 (the fact that I was too young to vote was irrelevant).
And here is a special collector's set of Batman pins, released coincidentally with the 1989 movie. These have art by some familiar names, and the artists are profiled on the back...
So, any pinback collectors among us? Did you wear a few, many, or none? Any memories of particular pins? Or memories of painful pinpricks? Pop on a few and express yourself!
