Page 41 - January1948

NATIONAL BUTTON BULLETIN 39

In the cheaper and more poorly made buttons this coating is applietl in
the form of a thickish paste which is allowed to set and is then carved into
designs. This competitive product is not very satisfactory and buttons so
made are apt to flake or to become tacky. In the finer work the mixture is
put on in thin coats, each one of which is dried and rubbed down betore
another is added. In this process coat after coat must be added before the
layers of lac are thick enough to carve. Although these buttons can be
cracked, they have a lovely hard finish and a mellow luster.
The other question, "Is all cinnabar red and if so, what about those but-
tons known as green cinnabar, white cinnabar and so on?" brings us into the
realm of trade jargon. Strictly speaking all cinnabar is red. Cinnabar is a
product of nature and it is found only in one color. Colloquially, however,
the word has come to mean not the pigment, but the mlxture. Historically
the earliest buttons made in this v/ay were colored with cinnabar and became
known not as cinnabar-lacquer, but merely as cinnabar. In time the name
referred to the type regardless of what pigment was used. The others could
be ltnown as green lac and white lac, but in the trade they are called green
cinnabar and white cinnabar. I have seen them also in blue, grey, brown
and two-color combinations.
For our purposes I feel that it is descriptive as well as common sense
to follow the trade practice and call all buttons of this type cinnabar, regard-
less of color. This is, however, my personal opinion and if you wish, you
can restrict the use of the word "cinnabar" to red buttons.
JANE F. ADAMS

QUESTTONS AND ANSWERS ON MATERTALS
The following vr'ere the questions asked from the floor with the Chair-
nran's reply.
a. I have an old original card marked "Best Ivory" but the buttons
are just black pants buttons and do not look like real ivory. Do you think
that they are?
A. It is very dangerous to say what a button is made from without
actually seeing the button. I think in this case, however, we are quite safe
in saying that the black pants buttons are made not from real ivory, but
from vegetable ivory. In the trade, that is among manufacturers and deal-
ers, vegetable ivory is called simply "ivory." One frequently finds veEetable
ivory labeled "ivory" on sample cards, price lists, and as the questioner says,
on original cards.
a. I have a beautiful button that I think is celluloid. I do not want to
scrape it or burn it. I'm even afraid to stick a hot needle into it, for fear
of ruining it. Is there any vr'ay of testing celluloid besides these, that would
be harmless?
A. The questioner has in mind that celluloid, when heated, gives off an
odor of camphor by which it can be identifled. This camphor smell is so
pronounced that frequently it can be detected without any burning. Try
pntting the button in a tightly covered box. Leave the box in a warm room
for a few days. See if a camphor odor is not noticeable when the box is
opened.
Q. I have a button that I was told was genuine jet. When I scraped
a bit off and burned it, it smelled like burning rubber. Do you think it is
jet ?
A. No, if the button smells like rubber, it is rubber.
a. Is gilt a low-grade gold or is it more like blass?
A. Gilt may be pure gold or it may be any one of numerous imitations
of gold. The word means "a golden covering" and applies to the outer layer,
uot to the basic material. There is no such thing as a solid gilt button.