Category: Uncategorized

These white metal buttons are reproduction buttons which I purchased in 2010. On the left is one from 1900-1910, the middle one 1860-1899 and the right one 1941. They were made in Italy and I wonder if the original moulds were used. They were produced under the La Mode brand. There was quite a series of them produced at the time and I saw them advertised in a craft magazine and it took some time to track them down. I eventually got them in a craft shop in Bendigo and was so pleased to find them.

These two plastic buttons are rather simple in their design of a yacht but are quite striking. The colour combination is dramatic with a maroon yacht on a red button and a navy yacht on a blue button. The straight white lines certainly add to the drama. Would they maybe be used on a cotton sunfrock. They are sew through type buttons.

This is an old plastic button with a cut out area leaving two tulip flowers and leaves. It is quite unusual. I do not know what type of plastic it is; maybe Bakelite. It is a sew through type and measures a little over 3 1/2 cm. I wonder how old it is.

Here are two lacy glass buttons from my collection. To get them with the paint on the back in really good order they are very expensive so these have some wear on them. I have read in a button book where years ago some collectors scraped all the paint off the back of these buttons. That seems criminal to me. I have seen some really pretty ones in books.

Here is another group of new buttons bought recently. The two checkered ones are fabric with eyelet sew through holes. The black glass one has some gold lustre dots. The cat is a gold metal realistic with black trim and the yacht is a resin button. I keep my new buttons in a small wooden set of drawers separate from old buttons. I am thinking that the black glass button is from some older stock but maybe I am wrong.

Here are four buttons purchased new at the Sewing Centre a couple of weeks ago. The top three gold ones are metalized plastic and the bottom one is a mustard plastic with a silver embellishment. Sometimes the gold ones resemble black glass with gold lustre.

These few black glass buttons are also new to my collection. Two have gold lustre and one silver lustre. The small one at bottom left has a copper lustre and the one on the right has a “diamond” in the centre. They were in a tin of buttons I went through a couple of weeks ago and I have cut cards for them but haven’t attached them yet. Apart from the copper lustre one which has a metal four way box shank the rest have self shanks.

For some reason these buttons did not photograph well which was disappointing as they are really bright and colourful. They are new to my collection and are toggle type buttons. I guess they may be Bakelite and maybe from the 1940s or 1950s. I wonder what type of garment they would have been used on ; they are quite chunky.

This little group of Celluloid buttons is a new acquisition to my collection. A friend offered to let me go through her sister’s button tin and I got quite a few old buttons and it is always fun to search for something interesting. The big dark one does not show to it’s best advantage as it is quite colourful in two greens in a type of swirly pattern. These buttons may be sort of common but are different to any I have.

This wooden button is new to my collection and I have not seen one like it before. It has a dog’s head painted on it in strong colours and thick paint. It has a wire loop shank and measures a little over 2 cm.