Welcome! As part of its ongoing mission to document the Art and Production History of Star Trek, this site will present technical articles on Star Trek prop and costume authentication - focusing on The Original Series - with detailed photos and episode screenshots to complement the information presented; as well as feature pictorials to showcase Star Trek memorabilia in private & public collections, present rare Behind The Scenes TOS imagery & discuss other topics.
Gerald Gurian is a 40+ year collector of screen used Star Trek memorabilia and a passionate fan of TOS
     
- Star Trek TOS At Auction Part I - Gurian Collection Highlights - Greg Jein TOS Hero Type II Phaser
-Authenticating a TOS Communicator -6 Myths About Star Trek Prop Design -Star Trek 3rd Season Command Tunic
- Design Features of TOS Tricorders -Star Trek Props At National Air & Space - TOS Leatherette Tricorder
- TOS Federation Sciences Dress -Desilu Studio TOS Prop Fabrication - Unreleased Allen/Gurian Prop Photos
- The Beautiful Women of TOS Part I -TOS U.S.S. Enterprise 11' Filming Model - Captain Kirk's Chair from TOS
- Spock Ears -TOS Control Panels & Displays - Mr. Spock's Science Station
- TOS Soundstage at Desilu -TOS Shatner Romulan Pants - The Beautiful Women of TOS Pt. II
- TOS Galileo Shuttlecraft -Greg Jein TOS Cage Laser Pistol - TOS 3rd Season Midgrade Type II Phaser
- Dr. McCoy's Sickbay on TOS -TOS Balok Puppet Head - Captain Kirk "Mirror, Mirror" Tunic
- Greg Jein TOS Hero Tricorder -1992 Smithsonian TOS Cast Video - TOS 1st Season Command Tunic
- TOS "Where No Man" Silver Contact Lenses -TOS Special Effects: The Transporter - The Art of Matt Jefferies
- TOS "Space Seed" Gold Mesh Jumpsuit -Gorn Costume from "Arena" - Rare TOS Behind-the-Scenes Videos
- TOS Stunt Type II Phaser -1993 Bill Theiss Estate Auction - TOS Shatner Command Dress Tunic
- TOS Elasian Royal Guard Tunic -TOS Finnegan Silver "Shore Leave" Tunic - TOS Science Officer Tunic "The Cage"
- TOS Shatner Early 1st Season Command Tunic -William Shatner TOS Tunics At Auction - TOS Shatner Late 1st Season Command Tunic

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Star Trek: The Original Series U.S.S. Enterprise Bridge Buttons

Presented below are some detailed photos of various screen used Star Trek: The Original Series control panel buttons from the U.S.S. Enterprise Bridge set on the Desilu soundstage.


The following 2 photos show a pair of metal lamp housings that would shield individual 25 watt light bulbs which would be mounted beneath the control panels to provide panel illumination and also backlight various monitor display graphics...



In addition to the well known round and square colored resin buttons, real aircraft switches and lights also adorned the U.S.S. Enterprise control panels - a result of Art Director Matt Jefferies background and industry contacts as an accomplished aviator ...










Interestingly, most of the square buttons are single pieces of resin molded as a pair of square controls, frequently with a reinforcement affixed to the bottom to support the thin section of resin between the main button masses. As can be seen in the following photos, some of the square pieces have cylindrical holes drilled inside while others are solid throughout...






Several pieces in this button collection have striking color pattern and text similarities to the buttons seen on Mr. Spocks Science Station on the Bridge, and might very well be from that location...


In particular, a square button pair which possesses an unusual blend of three colors (green and yellow on the left button and red and yellow on the right button) and a drilled hole in the right button only seems to be a match for a Science Station button, as seen below ...


Some additional apparent matches involving aircraft buttons with text as well as some oversized round resin buttons and the buttons seen on the Science Station are illustrated below ...



Mr. Spock's Science Station was the subject of a previous article on this website, which may be viewed at: http://startrekpropauthority.blogspot.com/2008/06/mr-spocks-science-station-on-bridge.html