This type of needle case was very popular. Many had the little spools of cotton inside where you could take off the tiny lid to reveal the little compartment for needles. What a very compact and great item.
SEWING KIT AND TAPE MEASURES
The sewing kit with petit point flowers on a black background is very effective and pretty. The two tape measures have been done in a similar manner. Didn’t they make things well in the earlier years. Am I getting old!!!!
METALISED PLASTIC BUTTONS
These buttons have been coated with metal making them look like metal buttons where in actual fact they are plastic. They were popular in the 1950’s like those shown in the first picture which were made by Beutron. They all have a disc of plastic inset. The other two pictures show just the gold coloured buttons in various shapes and sizes.
ANTLER BUTTON
At 1 1/2cms, this button is small. The base is antler with a silver escutcheon added showing an acorn and some oak leaves. It is really a rather nice button.
CARVED IVORY BUTTONS
The art of carving intrigues me whatever the article being made or the material used. These ivory buttons are no exception. What intricate work on such small items. Dragons and flowers are the subject matter on them. The largest dragon button ( No. 4) has a self screw in shank which is very unique.
How I got this button is interesting. I went to Rushworth (a tiny old gold mining town) for an outing. The opp shop there is only small but I always go in. I asked the assistant if they had any old buttons and a customer behind me wanted to know why I wanted them. I told her that I was a collector and she said that she had lots of old buttons at home that she didn’t want and would I like them. To cut a long story short, I went to her home and she rummaged in the bottom of an old dirty tin trunk where all the buttons were loose. She put them in a container and home I went full of anticipation. What fun I had after tea sorting through the hundreds of very dirty old buttons. “Millions”of shirt and trouser buttons and quite a lot of old plastics. What a surprise I got upon stumbling across this Carved Ivory Dragon button. It looked much better after a little water and cotton bud treatment. Recently at the Melbourne Buttonfest I saw an identical button for $100. Luckily it had survived the mess and dirt and made my day. So you never know where or when you may find a treasure!! Just keep your ears and eyes open.
LEO POPPER BUTTONS
These lovely small glass buttons were made in USA by Leo Popper & Sons in the late 1890’s or up until 1915. They are the only three that I have in my collection. They are always colourful and glitt ery in the Button books. They have a metal loop shank. The yellow one was a real find for me as I rummaged in a small dish of dirty old buttons in a junk shop and for $2 got it and a few old plastic buttons. I didn’t know at the time exactly what it was but knew it was glass. When I got out of the shop I couldn’t stop smiling.
BUTTON MOULDS AND RINGS
Bone has been used to make buttons for a few centuries and is still being used today.
Moulds were used to wind thread or braid around in a decorative way to form a button. Rings were also used for the same purpose (especially Dorset buttons) I think it was very time consuming. My first picture shows wooden button moulds as well as some bone rings.
The second picture has a group of utility bone buttons, while the third one is of underwear buttons. Note the large holes enabling narrow tape to be threaded through which was then sewn onto the garment so the size could be adjusted around the waist. We use elastic these days.
VEGETABLE IVORY BUTTONS
Vegetable Ivory is named so as in it’s natural state it resembles ivory. It is actually the Tagua or Corozzo nut from a palm tree grown in South America. Over the years many buttons have been made, some in the natural colour and many dyed. The first button is made from the skin or bark of the nut. In the group of small buttons, some have lovely designs pressed into them. At first glance they appear plain but upon inspection they are really lovely. (Quite a few with plant life and one even has three tiny little birds) It is good to have a magnifying glass when inspecting buttons.
BUCKLES
Buckles are another interest of mine and I have a few really nice old ones and quite a few of the more common old plastic ones. I love thee look of these carved plastic buckles (or clasps). The colours are typical of the period (not so bright as today’s colours) I guess they come from the 1940’s and 50’s.
WHITE GLASS WITH SILVER LUSTRE
This button is quite large at 3 1/2cms in diameter. It is really effective as is although I am not sure if the silver lustre would originally have been all over the cameo type lady’s head. It is old and has a metal four way box shank.