Call us crazy, but we just bought another button collection. We bought our first collection over a year ago and although we've sold quite a few buttons from it we still have a few hundred left. Now we bought out another large collection giving us hundreds more. If we collected buttons ourselves it would make more sense. As it is, I hope our kids enjoy them when they inherit all we don't sell in our lifetime.
But I am beginning to appreciate how fun they would be to collect. They come in an infinite variety of shapes and sizes, materials, and colors. And subject matter.
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| Different Sizes |
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| Different Shapes |
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| Cleopatra and the Asp |
My favorites are the story buttons that depict scenes from well known stories. Most of the stories I don't know because most of these buttons were produced in the late 1800s or early 1900s. (Cleopatra I've heard of)
One of the mysteries (at least to me) is on what kind of clothing some of these buttons were used. Its pretty obvious how some were used, like underwear buttons, and I have not searched the internet for images of those being used.
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| Mastiff with a Stick |
But
for other buttons, its not so obvious. For instance, on what do you
wear a button of a not-so-friendly looking dog? Or for that matter,
when is the right time to wear Cleopatra and the Asp, and on what kind
of clothing? The internet is surprisingly devoid of photos of buttons
on old clothing.
Come into Antiques on Main to see (even buy!) buttons and lots of other wonderful antiques.
