We’re turning 30—and we want to celebrate with you!
Join us for our “Hot Dam! We’re 30!” anniversary party on Saturday, September 13 at Chicago’s Color Club. It’s been three decades since Busy Beaver started with a button machine, a big idea, and a lot of heart, and we’re marking the occasion the best way we know how: surrounded by music, art, community, and the enduring power of the pin-back button.
The all-ages event will feature live music from Detroit garage rockers the Hentchmen, and Chicago mod rockers Sharp Pins—who will nod to Busy Beaver’s very first customer with a special set of Guided by Voices covers. In addition, guests can take part in a singalong with singer-songwriter Amalea Tshilds, dance to a DJ set by Essential Logic, show off their jumping prowess with 40+ Double Dutch, try their hand at button making, enjoy a signature cocktail from Wilderness Club, and much more. Proceeds will benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
“Having a business is an opportunity to build more of what you want to see in the world,” says president and owner Christen Carter. Over the past thirty years, that’s exactly what the Chicago-based button and merch company has done.
EVENT DETAILS:
“Hot Dam! We’re 30!”
Saturday, September 13
Color Club, 4146 N Elston Ave, Chicago, IL 60618
Doors at 6 PM
All ages are welcome
Tickets go on sale Friday, July 18 at 10 AM CT
Purchase here: https://dice.fm/event/6827be4f6616f40001f408fe
Photo by Anjali Pinto
A Little More About Busy Beaver Buttons & Merch:
Founded in a Bloomington, Indiana dorm room on a DIY ethos of creativity, community, and hard work, Busy Beaver has transformed from a one-woman operation to a 20-person crew and has become known as America’s most trusted sources for high-quality pin-back buttons and stickers. In that time, we’ve created pins for artists like Sonic Youth, Patti Smith, Questlove, and Beck; worked with iconic record labels, including Sub Pop, Lookout!, Stones Throw, Kill Rock Stars, and Third Man; collaborated with nonprofit organizations like Planned Parenthood, the ALCU, and the American Library Association; and provided official merch for the Natural Resources Defense Council and the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Through our evolution, we’ve approached every project with the same sense of heart and care, while maintaining our passion for buttons and stickers as a powerful way to communicate and bring people together.
The story starts in 1995. During a work-study trip to London, our founder, Christen Carter, noticed that while pin-back buttons had gone out of fashion in the U.S., they’d remained popular in the British underground music and arts scene, particularly through the influence of artist Mark Pawson. Inspired, she returned to college at Indiana University determined to revitalize punk buttons on this side of the Atlantic. She shared her idea with Dayton indie-rocker greats, Guided By Voices, who offered to be her first customer.
After buying a button machine and getting her first order out the door, Carter went through her record collection and sent all the record labels a postcard she’d made at Kinko’s. Within months, business had bloomed — especially among independent bands and punk labels — and she named the company Busy Beaver Button Co. (after a textbook of her mother’s), enlisting musician and cartoonist Archer Prewitt to draw the logo.
After a stint in San Francisco, Busy Beaver relocated to Chicago in 1998, where we found a natural home among the city’s flourishing creative community. Over the next decade, Busy Beaver found new ways to bring people together through buttons, including the Button-O-Matic vending machine, which dispensed independent artist-designed buttons at cafes, music venues, and small retailers.
In 2010, they opened the Busy Beaver Button Museum in their Logan Square storefront. Now a 501c3, the museum has amassed a 60,000-plus button collection and operates under the mission to tell as much American history as possible through pin-back buttons including “pre-buttons” worn at George Washington’s inauguration through today. The museum has a librarian on staff who runs its internship program and constantly adds new content to the museum’s website. All that dedication has been internationally recognized— the museum even holds the Guinness World Record for Largest Museum Display of Pin Badges — but the passion goes even deeper; Christen and collectables expert Ted Hake wrote the book, Button Power: 125 Years of Saying it With Buttons (Princeton Architectural Press, 2020), which features important and beautiful buttons from their collections.
Through it all, Busy Beaver has stayed true to the values that have driven us since day one. Our commitment to self-expression and community is woven into the fabric of our operations. We believe every customer should be treated like a collaborator and a friend, with each design personally reviewed by our in-house team. In a world increasingly dominated by AI chatbots and faceless eCommerce platforms, that personal touch shines even brighter. "You can call us, and a real person will answer the phone. If you come by, you'll be greeted warmly," says Carter.
Busy Beaver’s strong client relationships have in turn, informed the shape of the company. Innovations like metallic buttons, matte finish, and packaging were each inspired by customer requests. Likewise, in 2019, we added stickers to our product line in response to growing inquiries. “Buttons and stickers are friends—they are both easy-to-share items that have endless possibilities with design and messaging,” Carter says.
Busy Beaver has made more than 63 million buttons — each one carefully pressed by hand — and Carter is more resolute of their power to unite people than ever.
"In this moment, what I really want is buttons and stickers to connect people," she says. "I'd love to see more people find commonalities, being able to communicate and express themselves, and accept others. If buttons and stickers can help do that, then wow! You literally have to stand beind the message, and in an era of faceless tweets or comments, they help us see each other more as humans."
For media inquiries, please contact Katie Hovland katie@busybeaver.net.
