The DUTCHMAN - 1967
The Buttons

Of the set of Dutchman buttons that were made for 1967, we had 2,000 made of the stripes right and 1,000 made of the stripes left. We only made 1,000 of the conventional button and the rest were in really small numbers.

If memory serves me right, I think there are only 12 sets that were ever given out in a whole. That should show how hard it is to acquire the whole collection.

All of the original Dutchman buttons have a straight pin on the back of them.

In 1968 someone came out with an identical set of the original Dutchman buttons and there is only one difference to them. They all have a safety pin on the back instead of the straight pin. There value will never be the same as the original set.

The value on the original 1967 Dutchman buttons range from $10.00 and on up. The hard ones to get are the vertical top and bottom and the angle buttons. Their value has gone up to and over $50.00 each. The 1968 set is in the $10.00 to $15.00 range and some people have paid more for the hard ones to get of the first set knowing they are buying the 1968 fakes. You really do not see these buttons show up at the races or swap meets very often and when you do they are usually snapped up real fast.

The set above came out in 1998 and they are numbered. There were 125 of each button made.

They were made to hand out to certain friends, but once buttons go out and get into the hands of the collectors, anything goes!

75 of the sets were kept intact and the other sets were broken up. Some of the low numbered sets have gone for over $40.00.

When they first appeared in the collectors hands they for the most part were broken sets and some people were paying $20.00 each to try to get the whole set.

The set above, (the first three)came out in 1999 and there were only 30 or so of each made.

It was hard to acquire the photos of the Dutchman in color so when I gathered photos from each off the races that we went to, I had to make a color photo button of each.

It will be kinda fun to see where they end up with the collectors and the value that is placed on them since they were only intended for friends.

There is a fourth one to go with this set
(on the far right), it is the same as the Seattle one but it has a different font on it and I did not like it so I remade the one above. There were 30 of them made also.

The bottom center button in the photo above was made in 1998 as a commemorative button and was handed out free as with all of our buttons. It is a three inch button. I have seen this button alone go for $8.00 on E-Bay in the past year. This button was mainly handed out through the Internet and went to over 47 states in America. Postage paid.

From talking to major collectors like Marie Pedersen, Terry Young, Harvey Hunter, Niles Mayfield, and Jim Schaeffer, I understand there are about 4500 different hydro buttons and tacks throughout the years............it is a exciting and extremely challenging hobby and contacts have to be made in all 50 states as well as world-wide connections.........in addition, you will find buttons listed for sale on E-Bay under "items matching hydroplane", and "University Trading Cards" in Seattle.............