Tidying up the bedroom this morning I flung some spare buttons into the pot where they usually go, only to find it was full to overflowing with at least six years worth of buttons – probably more. There was nothing for it but to sort out which I might need and which belonged to outfits long since sent to the local hospice shop. I then realised it wasn’t the buttons taking up the room so much as the wrappings they now come in. As I set to emptying the monogrammed envelopes and plastic sachets of their contents I found that the buttons they concealed became not just manageable but also much more desirable.
Not being in the slightest bit ‘crafty’ there is little chance I will ever make them into an artistic collage or sew them on some dainty piece of knitting, but I remember my Mum’s old button box and how it was always an object of fascination. We called it a box but it was an old sweetie tin, heavy in the hand and with a distinctive rattle, its lid too tight for me to prise off. When a grown-up was persuaded to open it for me, its treasures and mysteries kept boredom at bay on many a wet afternoon: the fabric button with the missing eye and the old piece of sealing wax as engrossing as the shiny brass buttons carefully kept for re-use.
So instead of throwing away my buttons I’m going to keep them for future generations. Now I just need a nice old-fashioned tin for them to rattle in.
Ali
What a lot of memories you have stirred. I think every family had a treasured button box, my sister inherited ours which, like yours, was an old sweetie tin. It was a great treat to be allowed to play with the contents. Now I must go and find a suitable tin to put my buttons in for my grandchildren to play with.
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Of course these days there’s probably an EU directive banning such things. Sealing wax is probably toxic and I’m sure I used to prick myself on the odd broken pin. A bit of danger was all part of the fun! BTW this is probably the first thing I have done on behalf of my future grandchildren. Is it an omen?
AliB
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In Muscatine, Iowa (USA) there is a pearl button museum. Muscatine is along the Missouri River, and a certain shellfish grew well there, leading to a button industry made from the shells. Shell buttons have a feel to them that is altogether different from modern buttons.
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Hi and thanks for visiting – love the sound of the pearl buttons.
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