Marc Chassé pin-back buttons and badges collection

Collection

Identifier: MCC-00500

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of over 290 colorful, two-inch diameter, wooden macarons/pin-back buttons. Included in this collection are a few buttons of rectangular shape and a few lapel pins. The pin-back buttons represent events, places, businesses, foundations, organizations, sports, etc. and are mostly from New Brunswick and Quebec but, also from Fort Kent, Maine, Florida, Massachusetts, and Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia, Canada. The pin-back buttons are made of wood with a coat of polyurethane and a few are metals which were not made by Ateliers Nadeau. The pin-back buttons are either hand sculpted or machine molded but most are hand-painted. There is a stamp on the reverse side with Les Ateliers Nadeau Ltée and Peint à la main (painted by hand). A pin is glued to the back of the buttons so it can be temporarily fastened to the surface of a garment. They are beautifully designed and very colorful.

Dates

Creation: 1960-1980
Other: 2018-11-00

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access.

Copyright

Copyright has been assigned to the Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes

Biographical

Marc Chassé was born in St. Agatha, Maine in April 1938. He is the eldest of four children to Marie Estelle Franck and Emile Chassé. He left St. Agathe to attend high school at St. Francis High School in Biddeford, Maine, where he met the woman he would later marry, Priscilla Hanna. After studying pre-med at Merrimack College in Andover, Mass, he went to Palmer College of chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, where he graduated in 1962. Dr. Chassé practiced chiropractic in Fort Kent for 35 year, retiring in 1998. He and Priscilla raised 4 children, Daniel, Carl, Kevin, and Christine. Marc has been involve in a number of community and civic organizations and is the recipient of several awards.

In 2004, Marc published a book Les belles histories du Couvent de Ste-Agathe, a 200 page compilation of 112 anecdotes from former students to celebrate the Daughters of Wisdom’s Centennial in Ste-Agathe. He is an avid golf and tennis player.

Historical

Les Ateliers Nadeau of St. Francois de Madawska, New Brunswick, was owned by Mr. Henri Nadeau and his wife Aurella Pelletier for over 40 years. The Ateliers Nadeau were known for the quality of their arts and crafts. When the business started in 1950, they were located in a hangar next to their house but soon moved to a two-story building in the surrounding area when fire ravaged their work place. They constructed a second factory of 2,400 square feet. During their first years of productions, each item was crafted by hand and hand- painted but with competition all over, they had to change and utilize modern molding techniques. The application of colors and the disposition of scenes always received an artistic touch.

Wall plaques with peasant scenes were hand-painted and wood sculptures were a symbol of quality in their excellent products. They were producing macarons/pin-back buttons, key holders, lapel pins, clocks, recreational games, trophies, and sculptures on demand. One of their wood sculptor was Mr. Claude Michaud of St. Francois. Their products were sold throughout Canada and the United States but Ontario and Quebec were their principal markets.