04-30-2014 09:03 AM
Someone told me that buttons like this were called poppers. When I looked it up I found out that Leo Popper's company was famous for making this type of button. I have 20 of them. They are about 1/2" across.
Has "poppers" become a generic term? Can I call this a popper? Or do I need to figure out if it was made by the Leo Popper Co., and how do I do that? Thanks very much in advance for any help you can give me!
04-30-2014 09:17 AM
04-30-2014 10:23 AM
Thanks tyeldom!
I guess these weren't made by the Leo Popper Company - the shanks have four or five prongs and the button isn't beveled on the back.
Can I put poppers in the listing title and not be keyword spamming?
BTW, I've had these in a little dish on my desk for about a month now. I knew they were unusual but that's it. A customer, dealer, saw them and told me they were called poppers but she couldn't tell me why. I'm a "must know why" kind of person!
04-30-2014 11:03 AM
04-30-2014 04:46 PM
Wow - that's a great link.
I can't post a picture of the back right now - the pictures are on the computer at the store.
05-01-2014 06:43 AM
Yes, I think you are right about these types of buttons being called "poppers" as a generic term. I think it would not be keyword spamming, and be ok to use. The "Leo" part, I would not use, unless, of course you find out otherwise.
10-21-2017 06:14 PM
You just call it a "Popper" now. And the way to tell for certain that it's a popper is the shank. It's a sort of horseshoe-shaped shank that isn't on any other buttons I've seen, and I've been collecting for decades.
10-23-2017 11:32 AM
Given that the company went out of business in 1917, it's FAIRLY safe that the term is now in the public domain. But you will want to check the the word hasn't become trademarked again to apply to some other product.
An example where that happened and caused grief on eBay was the word UGG. The term was generic in Australia and New Zealand but trademarked here in the US. Some AU and NZ offered uggs for sale on the US site and had their listings taken down.
So check to make sure.