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Button A study & recognition of the fascinating fastening treasures. Jordan Geisert
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Copyright © 2016 by Jordan Geisert All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
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Table of Contents 07 Introduction 08
A Brief History
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My Collection
36 Colophon
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My sister’s beautiful hands holding my most treasured buttons. Most of these are from my Mom’s button box that I found when I was a child. A vast majority of these are shank buttons, meaning they have a small 4loop that extends from the back to be sewn to clothes.
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Who’s got the button? My fascination with buttons began when I was a kid. When my Mom’s friends would clean out their craft rooms they would send what they didn’t want anymore to me. Out of all the things that were given to me, buttons were the things I hung on to. After fifteen years of saving buttons, I now have a large collection, each button telling a story. Everyone has something that they can collect that reminds them of a time or period in their life. For me, it’s buttons. Since I was a child, people would clean out their craft rooms and would give me anything they didn’t want anymore. For some reason, I would filter through and pick out any buttons that were there. After twenty years of subconsciously collecting, I have a large archive, each one remaining me of a different time in my life. This study has given me the time to take inventory and reflect on my collection. Curiosity about where each one was made and the overall history of these precious objects inevitably followed. It turned in to an educational experience, turning the jar of Grandma’s old buttons into a treasure trove of antiqued history. Buttons are something that we see everyday, they surround us daily. However, I am noticing buttons all the time how because they carry new meaning for me. I think it’s interesting how I can’t get myself to use my buttons in any of my many projects, they are just too precious to me and I don’t want to break them up.
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A Brief History The first buttons date back to 900 B.C. and they were meant more for decoration than a fastener for clothing. Copper-alloy buttons have been found from the late Bronze Age, they are flat, decorative, and fit into a loop. In ancient Rome, buttons were in the same category as buckles, pins, and brooches. They were usually found as beautiful closures for garments. Among the wealthy in the Middle Ages, clothes were tighter fitting and required the use of buttons to secure garments. Buttons showed off the lines of the arm or other curves. France is credited to have the first button-maker started in 1250. At this time, they were still regarded as “less-thanfunctional jewelry.” The most popular styles were mounted on a “shank,” the little metal loop that extends out of the back of the button. This was before the typical sew-through button with four holes punched through. The shank style offered the artist a blank canvas to create. In the medieval period, buttons were considered a sign of wealth. Apparently you could pay off a dept by pulling off a button from your suit. The first political button came from George Washington’s inauguration in 1789. These buttons had two uses; holding together your garments and announcing the wearer’s political beliefs. Abraham Lincoln’s re-election campaign buttons are closer to what you would see today, a less functional modern accessory.
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A family friend, Theresa, gave me this duck button package.
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Lower class people wore buttons as well, but they had to make them by hand. In the early 20th century, Colonial American working-class families were lucky if they had their own handheld button-mold. They made buttons by heating up the mold in the fireplace and then filling it with melted lead or pewter, making a button shape. The buttons could be covered with fabric or other decorations. The Industrial Revolution expedited the button-making process by making it automated. Engravers cut steel dies, women and children stamped out cloth to cover the buttons with a machine. While another machine pressed out the four holes, which had become popular for men’s shirts. This process made a button similar to what we think of as a button today. Today we can find buttons on the traditional clothing such as shirts, pants, and coats. However, the meaning of the “button� can now be applied to technology like mobile phones, remotes, and computers. The variety and process of making buttons has improved, we can buy them in bulk, or in my case, collect them.
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My Collection I can’t remember where I got each button and why, but some of them have stuck in my mind. You will see my entire collection and get to read some stories. To the right you see a part of my collection that I had separated into colors when I was high school aged. It seems silly to me now that I took the time to divide them, but it made a beautiful result. My mom had her own container of buttons which I eventually took to start my own collection, I hope she didn’t mind! Recently I asked her what made her start this little box of buttons, she replied “My mom and grandma always had button jars because they used to sew and mend. I loved the colors and textures, but used mine more for crafts. This is true for myself as well, I have always loved colors and textures, I must have gotten this trait from my Mom. A rough guesstimate of my collection size is around 500 buttons of all shapes and sizes, colors, and textures.
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A multicolor button I pulled off of an old coat.
From my 2013 entertainment speech posters.
Pulled this one off of an old cushion bulletin board.
This was apart of my Mom’s original collection.
Another one from my entertainment speech posters.
The pearlized texture drew me to collect this one.
My Grandma Kathryn gave this one to me.
I bought this one in a pack at a craft store.
A pearlized shell button that I got from a neighbor.
There are three matchers to this button in my set.
Got off of an old pair of pants when I was a child.
I have multiple of these from my Mom’s button box.
From Grandma’s house, the thread still attached.
This one reminds me of my sister and the Lion King.
This button has weathered time, paint is tarnished.
I love the square shape and mixed colors in this one.
Got in a jar from Michael’s when I was in high school.
This purple button style has many duplicates.
There are multiple sizes that match this olive button.
This color shows my favorite childhood color.
A weathered button I picked up off the ground.
A button got stuck in another button, I had to keep it.
My aunt gave me multiples of this one for a project.
This one is from a spare off of one of my Dad’s coats.
Similar square inlaid shape that I think is so unique. 17
Grandma Rose Mary’s jar of antique buttons.
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From Grandma I remember my Grandma’s basement in the old farmhouse very vividly. That is where she kept all of her sewing supplies and a stock pile of decorations. On the walls behind her sewing machine there was a line of jars containing miscellaneous collections of ribbon, zippers, buttons and much more. Like grandparents do, throughout my life she gave me treasures at random times. She gave me her class ring from Aurora High School 1954, a bracelet that my Grandpa had given her early in their marriage, and most recently her glass jar of antique buttons. The jar in itself is a treasure to me, it’s weathered time, a few rust blemishes on the cap and there is a small piece of tape with my Grandma’s handwriting that reads “antique.” There are around thirty buttons of different styles and eras in the jar.
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My favorite piece from Grandma, it’s a metal shank button.
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The contents of the Grandma’s antique button jar.
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A colorful assortment of my collection.
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Martha Stewart I bought a large container of buttons from Michaels when I was in high school for my entertainment speech posters. That year my speech was a satire about Martha Stewart and how I was destined to take over her dynasty of crafting, cooking, and home making. I used the buttons as decoration on my poster’s typography to add something special as a nod to Martha’s crafty ways. Even though my time was booked with class, activities, and family events, I still had the time to separate and organize all the buttons by colors.
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From my Mom’s collection, I always pretended I found them in a treasure chest.
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Spare Button Cup This cup sits on my dresser. Whenever I find a button or have one that comes with a spare on a new sweater, I throw it in the cup. I got this cup from an event at a local art gallery. A pottery artist was hosting an exhibition about cups. People were supposed to bring a cup from home and then swap it with one of his beautifully crafted goblets. I was happy to take this one home!
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Buttons are so meaningful in my life and I am so glad to share my collection with you. Maybe this little book of one man’s treasures will compell you to filter through your own box of knick-knacks and see what you gravitate towards. Think about where you picked them up, does it remind you of a time in your life? If anything, enjoy the little things and work hard to remember every little bit.
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Colophon Designer: Jordan Geisert Typography: Didot LT Std, Adrian Frutiger, 1784–1811, Linotype Photo Details: All photos were taken by Jordan Geisert. Button History Information: Slate.com, The Simple, Humble, Surprisingly Sexy Button. A Visual History. Jude Stewart. June 14, 2012. Web. Project Assignment: This study is a project I did for Publication Design class, taken in Fall 2016. The assignment was to make a publication of a collection of 100 things.
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