Snoopy and Woodstock pin-back button, circa 1980

It was time for a special summer trip when twelve year old Christen Carter, the founder and owner of Busy Beaver Button Company, was asked by her parents “So do you want to go to a dude ranch or do you want to go to London?” It was a no brain-er and London became the first place where Christen bought her very first pin-back button. The Snoopy and Woodstock button, so easy on a twelve year old’s wallet, was in fact a unique piece of wearable art. Now Woodstock and Snoopy were a part of Christen. They could go anywhere together.

Fast forward to 1995 and Christen was making 1” buttons for the band she was in and soon her button company was underway. Located in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, The Busy Beaver Button Company has it’s button logo prominently painted on the side of it’s building.

According to Christen, the term “artist” is one she uses loosely.  Almost anything that someone is trying to create is an art, even if they’re not aware of it. My dad redesigned car parts for manufacturers. There was definitely an art in doing that, although he would never have called himself an artist. I like that Christen has this more universal perspective on creativity. It demonstrates how we can apply artistic qualities like discovery, skill and experimentation with all kinds of work. There is indeed a wonderful feeling of communication, history, artistry and machinery when you walk into Busy Beaver Button Company.

Christen Carter

Christen and her brother Joel

Working alongside Christen is her older brother Joel, an early collector of all kinds of things like stamps, coins and matchbooks. I won a Herman Miller wood top set for submitting photographs of my collections. Herman Miller emphasized the importance of playing with good toys when you are young and I remember these really cool wooden tops, elaborately designed. And there were three of them, so it was another collection. Once you have three of something it’s a collection, right?

Herman Miller Tops, walnut

Button production!

The giant button dispensing machine!

As a lifelong fan of prize dispensing machines, this over sized icon was really fun to encounter in Busy Beaver’s front window. One of my distinct memories as a child is of inserting coins into a prize machine which presented me with an intricate miniature boat that could be disassembled. My fascination with this 3D puzzle was significant; to this day I love knowing how something works and that it’s design can be the key to it’s functionality. Thanks for a great visit Christen and Joel!

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