National Button Society Convention:
Wooden It Be Grand
August 6 - 12, 2006

showroom open:
Aug 10- 11 -- 10:00 to 5:00
August 12 -- 10:00 to 3:00

Grand Rapids Michigan
Amway Grand Plaza Hotel
Reservations online at amwaygrand.com

Important Links

Click the Pic below to read
my eBay Button Workshop

Example of the carving process
of the Boxwood Buttons.

~An excerpt from a button article on my own site~

Start sifting through the button boxes of the past and you may find some treasures worth saving. Grandma buttons may be dusty and smelly but washing them is not always an option, if anything, polish them with a non abrasive cloth. Metal buttons, buttons with cardboard in them, also some wood and fabric buttons will not take kindly to the water. Sort the buttons by material and store them in breathable (not airtight) containers.

Metal and some older plastics do not mix well. Chemical reactions will disintegrate the plastic buttons and turn the metal buttons green. Set aside the more interesting finds from the old boxes and then take the time to learn more about them. There are some wonderful books available to help with your research.

Books:
About Buttons by Peggy Ann Osborne
Antique and Collectible Buttons by Debra Wisniewski
The Collectors Encyclopedia of Buttons by Sally Luscomb.

If you find youe opened a door to a collecting passion, you will find helpful information at the website of The California State Button Society.

The Lure and Lore of Buttons

Button trivia book: All Because of a Button, by Ellaraine Lockie

• Button is from the French "bouton" meaning a bud. Botwm is Welsh, bottum is Cornish, bottoni is Italian, boton is Spanish, belgic is Dutch, bot is Armenian and boton is Portugese. all are from the root of "bud."



• Flapper Buttons worn by a young woman on her garter in the Roaring 20's were given to a young man to be worn as sleeve holders, announcing the two were sweethearts.



• The Tintype button was a fad for men going off to the Civil War. They wore a row of these buttons containing pictures of their loved ones on their waistcoats. Ladies took up the fad and adorned their clothes with a full length row of these buttons. Grooms sometimes wore tintype buttons of their bride on their waistcoats.



• The ornamental buttons at the waistline on the backs of men dress coats once had utility. In the 1800s when men wore tailcoats and road horseback, the two little buttons were used to hold up the tails while riding.



• In the late 1800's buttons reflected different stages of mourning. Full mourning was one year and one day and required black buttons with a dull finish. Half-mourning was an additional six months , demanded black buttons and allowed artof the finish to shine. Quarter-mourning lasted another three months and permitted the black finish to fully shine.



• Genealogists study buttons bearing family crests to illuminate history. A family's identity can be traced thru the crests that appear on livery buttons.



• A little girl found a button in her salad and was heard to remark, suppose it fell off while the salad was dressing.br>
  
• When Prince Albert arrived in England in 1840, to marry Queen Victoria, she gave him a tiny bouquet of flowers. The Prince, noted for his charming little courtesies, took a penknife from his pocket, cut a hole in the lapel of his coat and inserted the flowers. This was the first lapel buttonhole. Prince Albert had his tailor make them in all his suits..



• Giving buttons as a wedding gift was customary in 1700's France.



• Wartime 1940's, times were hard. When the collection plate was passed in church, folks, not wanting to let the plate pass them without an offering, would put buttons in. This notice was published: Those who prefer to put buttons rather than money in the offertory are asked to put their own buttons in, not those taken from the cushions..



• Buttons on men shirts are on the right, women on the left. One reasoning for the origin of this is as follows: Since most folks are right handed and most men dressed themselves, it was expeditious to have garments button from right to left. Many higher class women had dressing servants. Maids facing the buttons head on found it easier to fasten their mistresses garments if they were sewn on the opposite side. Tailors complied with this convention and it has never been altered.
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• In the early 1900's tourists visited Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to see the famous Apache leader, Geronimo, who was confined there. Geronimo sold the buttons off his coat as souvenirs and kept extra buttons in his pockets at all times to replace the ones he sold.



• To keep small pierced earrings together in your jewelry box, fasten them through the holes of a button.
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• The uniform buttons worn by the Royal winnipeg Rifles illustrate an incident in Canadian history in the late 1800's, when there was an Indian uprising. The Rifles fought valiently, wearing dark uniforms. From that time, the rebels referred to them as those "little black devils." The regiment was evidently proud of this nickname because they had buttons made showing the figure of a running devil holding a trident in one hand
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• The world is made up of people who lose buttons and people who collect buttons.
  

If you need to replace some buttons or you want collect a few more, see my eBay auction listings.

~THANKS~...ABL

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