Monthly Archives: March 2015

If you walk onto any Disney property anywhere in the world, what’s one of the biggest-selling souvenirs? Pins. Cloisonne pins by the truckload, commemorating anything and everything Disney can think up; holidays, characters, special events, attractions – you name it, there’s probably a pin for it. And it’s all supplying the demand; Disney pin collectors are ravenous for those things – and unlike in the ’80s and ’90s before pins were really a thing, you could walk in to the Emporium on Main Street and pick up a cool land pin or whatever for maybe a buck or so; probably less. Today, collectors burn entire credit cards on these things – literally – as they go for well over $10 or $15 much of the time; and that’s off the shelf – in the secondary market among these collectors… sky’s the limit. Take out a loan, kids! It’s crazy!

On this Throwback Thursday, we’re going back to the thing that was a thing before these things were things. I’m talking buttons. Disney very early on began seeing the promotional – as well as souvenir – value in buttons that folks would buy, pin onto their clothes or hats, and wear around the parks and beyond. Free advertising, absolutely; but also, it was a cost-effective way of promoting events, seasons, and even attraction openings in the days long before Twitter and other social media platforms. Hell, we’re talking pre-internet in many cases. Buttons, buttons, buttons – by the handful – next to the registers in the Emporium, Star Trader, or any of the larger shops on Disney property. If memory serves, these little gems usually sold for between $.75 and a buck; in later years, we’d see the price jump to something obscene like $1.50. Now, if any exist, I don’t know what they are – maybe $3 or more.