Saturday, April 4, 2009

History of the button

I love buttons. I have two glass jars full. My mother and grandmother also loved and saved buttons. I don't know who got my grandmother's buttons, hopefully someone in her large family. I wasn't living near the family when she left this world. (I guess I could ask my uncle.) I know my step mother threw my mom's button tin away like she did most everything that was my moms. My mom also had a large bread box with all her clothing patterns that got tossed. My mom passed away in 1962 so think OLD patterns. I've got over it years ago but I try not to think about it. Here is some info about buttons.

Buttons - from the French word bouton, meaning bud or knob.

Buttons date back to prehistoric times when they were made from bones. Buttons were used primarily as ties until the invention of the buttonhole. At first Europeans used buttons only as decoration. Strings and pins were used to hold their clothing together. During the 13th Century people desired more fitted clothing and this led to the use of buttons as fasteners. Most people had buttons made from bone, bronze, or wood. Royalty and the rich displayed their status with buttons made of gold or silver, and sometimes embellished with jewels.

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