Did you know about Obscura Day? I didn't either, until it was mentioned by David Plotz on Slate's Political Gabfest podcast. Atlas Obscura, this Website that features obscure places in the world, encourages people to meet in unusual places for a celebration, and this year we went out to Busy Beaver Button Company in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood.
Celebrating 20 years of business, Busy Beaver has been supplying badges to a nation hungry for self-promotion with reasonable prices and quick turnaround. I've bought plenty of their buttons, and their services were used for the DIY Trunk Show for all 11 years that the show was in effect.
They have a whole archive of historical buttons, both important and unimportant, and they opened up their office on Saturday to invite people to stop by and take a look. About 30 people showed up, and business owner Christen Carter gave us a short presentation on the history of buttons, along with several examples from their archive.
It was a fun way to spend a cold & rainy afternoon in Chicago. Obscura Day was a success for us, so we're going to definitely mark it on the calendar for next year.