Fink buttons - Basil Wolverton : 1965

John Lennon wearing a Sword Swallower pinback button

25 buttons from Leaf - More Laffs from Leaf Fink metal buttons. 2-inch litho buttons with Made in Japan on curl. The buttons feature the art of Basil Wolverton

Basil Wolverton (1909 – 1978) was an American cartoonist and illustrator known for his intricately detailed grotesques of bizarre or misshapen people. Wolverton was described as "Producer of Preposterous Pictures of Peculiar People who Prowl this Perplexing Planet." His many publishers included Marvel Comics and Mad magazine.

 

In 1946, Wolverton won a contest to depict "Lena the Hyena", the world's ugliest woman, a running gag in Al Capp's Li'l Abner newspaper strip where Lena remained unseen beneath an editorial note stating her face had been covered to protect readers. Capp, responding to popular demand, announced a contest for artists to submit their interpretations. Among 500,000 entries, Wolverton's was the winner

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