PENGUINS
From 1933 to 1935,
American aviator Richard Byrd was on expedition to the South Pole, having first
flown a discovery mission there in 1929. His exploits were photographed for the
pubic at home, and his every move reported on. When Byrd arranged to export a
shipment of penguins to a few American zoos, the public suddenly went wild for
penguins. Manufacturers reacted by including penguin designs on all manner of
objects, and the image of the tux-clad birds appeared over and over in print as
well, throughout the 1930’s.
Tragically, all of the penguins from Byrd's
shipments became victims of viruses and impurities their lungs had never before
been exposed to. Once veterinarians studied the problem, they discovered that
the birds needed to be kept in protective sealed airspace's; the next round of
penguins that were imported did survive and million of Americans flocked to zoos
to see them.
------------------------
some of the button materials: glass, metal,
coconut shell, pearl, ivory, celluloid and other plastics
click on image to enlarge
