Sunday, February 22, 2015

The Button Box


By Marilyn Turk

This is a magic box, or so I thought many years ago. It’s my mother’s button box. When I was a little girl, I spent hours looking through all the buttons, grabbing handfuls, letting them slip through my fingers, examining the detail of each one. There were huge flat red ones, tiny pearly ones, and shiny embossed gold ones. I was convinced they were worth lots of money because they were treasures. Why else would she hide the pretty box in a drawer?


Button boxes were common many years ago, because buttons were not. Before clothes were so easy to find in stores, they were all handmade. But they wore out eventually, so the buttons were cut off to save and reuse, while the clothes became rags. Nothing was wasted.
Archaeologists have found buttons dating back as far as 5000 years. Before they were used as fasteners, they were used as ornaments. Early buttons were made from seashell. Some were carved into shapes and had holes pierced in them so they could be attached to clothing. The earliest known functional buttons were found in tombs from the 9th century. Functional buttons with buttonholes for fastening clothes first appeared in Germany in the 13th century.
Buttons have been made from almost every possible material, both natural and manmade. They’ve been crafted by artisans and by factories. Today, most buttons are made from hard plastic, seashell, metals, and or wood.
In addition to their differing compositions, they also vary by their attachment, being either shank (protrusion on back), flat (sew-through) or stud (pressed into fabric). Buttons can be covered by fabric, Mandarin, worked or cloth.

Button collecting was recognized as an organized hobby through the founding of the National Button Society in 1938. During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, a radio show called “Hobby Lobby” aired which featured one hobby each week. In 1938, Gertrude Patterson brought her passion for button collecting to the show. As a result, listeners raided their attics and basements for old buttons to start their own, affordable collections. From Victorian black glass buttons to modern plastic buttons to rare 18th-century buttons worn by aristocracy, there are buttons for every taste and budget.
Many museums and art galleries have special button collections. Both the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Smithsonian have button displays showing a vast assortment of buttons, especially in their jewelry collection. Other notable button museums are The Waterbury Button Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut, and the Keep Homestead Museum in Monson, Massachusetts.

Did your mother or grandmother have a button box? Did you have a favorite button? I loved the big red flat ones that had the shank back. I'm sure they came off a 1940's coat.



Marilyn Turk lives in and writes about the coastal South, especially its history. Coming soon, Rebel Light is the first novel in her Coastal Lights Legacy series. Marilyn has been multi-published in books and magazines. She writes a weekly lighthouse blog @http://marilynturk.com. 




     

16 comments:

  1. Great post! I don't recall my mother or grandmother having a button box but I love and collect buttons. I have a button jar! It is filled with a glorious array of buttons. I hope my granddaughter enjoys them one day.

    mauback55 at gmail dot com

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    1. Button jars are good ideas too. They can be a colorful decorative accessory!

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  2. I have a button box that is my grandmother's and I keep it in my house when she comes to visit. I had no idea these boxes could be seen at the museum.

    Thanks for posting.

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    1. How special to have your grandmother's button box. Maybe she has some neat stories to tell about the buttons in it.

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  3. Mom saved buttons out of necessity as we were missionaries in Nigeria. I have a button box but most are utilitarian. Went to a museum in Nevada , the state museum , and they have a fabulous collection of buttons. Sm wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Sharon, I think people in this country saved buttons out of necessity until after World War II. I'd like to see a museum button collection someday too.

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  4. Your tin is so pretty! My button box is also a tin. The last time my granddaughter was here (she's 6), she spent a good long time sorting those buttons. She found the shapes and colors fascinating. My favorite button is a Victorian era button that features a 6-pointed star in the center.I sometimes wear it as a brooch. I also love the black jet ones. And have often wished I could find "by chance" a Washington button (a commemorative issued to honor the first president). If wishes were horses ...

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    1. Thank you. I noticed my tin was made in Holland. Maybe it had cookies in it at one time. I just remember it with buttons though. Isn't it fun to share those buttons with your granddaughter? Your Victorian button sounds very nice. Have you looked online to see if there's any Washington buttons available? Of course, they might cost a pretty penny.

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  5. A year ago the historical society showed me cuff buttons that had belonged to my 6 times great grandfather. They're from the 1780s and are octagonal, which I think was unusual. I wonder if he had them made for himself.

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    1. Rebecca, how cool is that? What were they made out of? How awesome that they're still around!

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    2. I think they were brass, or pewter. They have an interesting design as well. It was a thrill to touch something that had belonged to him.

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  6. I love old button boxes. I played with my grandmother's box all the time and strung together buttons on thread to make necklaces. That was during WWII when we saved everything.

    I don't have a box, but I have plastic containers and a jar full of buttons. I had to laugh because I have buttons that look just like the gold and brass ones. In fact, I sewed one just like the one in the front with the flowers around the edge onto the cuff of a jacket last night. I found at least five others that match some in my box. :) I'm a former Home Economics teacher who taught sewing 22 years before switching to English so buttons fascinate me..

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    1. Martha, thanks for sharing about your button collection. Funny you have buttons that match the pictures. I'm sure that being a Home Ec teacher, you had many buttons. When my sons were toddlers, I made one piece suits that buttoned at the shoulder and loved finding cute fabric and matching buttons to it.

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  7. What a delightful post, Marilyn! I think we still have a button container--might be a tupperware--but with some buttons that date back to a great-grandmother.

    Did you ever read the Grandma's Attic books? The little girl in them often gets her grandma to tell her stories inspired by the button box...

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    1. Kiersti, thanks for your comment. Those buttons really are treasures when we can connect them to our family's past. I never read those books, but they sound delightful.

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  8. My grandmother collected buttons and I have her collection. It's so nice to sit down and look at them, so many different kinds, sizes and etc. I'm so lucky to have them.

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