Page 10 - May1954

NATIONAL BUTTON BULLETIN tr{ay.1954

CLASSII-ICATION FOR TEXI'IITII IILTTTONS (Continued)
Florentine, silk, mohair, gambroom, satin, velvet, braid, Italian twist, cotton
worsted, netted silk, gold thread, silk thread, silk genappe, Ispahan, flgured
velvet, corded satin, organzine, sewing silk, lasting, half silk, mixed silk-
cotton-wool, chenille and more besides.
-Were
we to try to find names for aII manners in which textile buttons
have been manufactured (the craftsmanships, as it were) the job rvould be
even more hopeless.
Clearly in this section 1ve nust be satisfied to let a class called "Special"
ized" take the place of long list of names. Instead of "Red," "White,"
"Black," "Yellow," "Pink," "Blue," and so on and on, we rnust have only
"colored, specialized." "Linen" must include all types from handkerchief
linen to crash, 'with specialization, if wanted, left to the collector. "Si1k"
must include all silk fabrics except satin and velvet. These two rate in-
dividual classes by virtue of having become true types worn in great pro-
fusion during an entire fashion epoch. When it comes to craftsmanship.
we rrust be content with the basic division into hand covered and machine
covered vr'ithout any further sub-dividing Iisted.
To summarize: textile buttons can be neatly classiflerl into a system
that will accomodate any type of specialization wanted; they cannot, in any
reasonable amount of space, be catalogued by name into every known variety.
As we were saying, the usual textile button is composed of a framework
and a cover. It is natural and logical to think of the frametvork as the
"construction" and the co\rers as the "material" rvhich is what we have
done in the classiflcation.
-
Framervorks are of three chief kinds: metal shells, solid molds, and
rings, often called ring molds. The metal shells are made up of two or
more pieces of thin metal, cut and shaped in such a, way that they rvill
form a button :ind hold a cover tishtly drawn in Dlace when they are
clamped together. The last sentence may perhaps seem to be a very com-
piicated way of saying that metal shells are the ordinary, rvell-known,
machine-covered buttons.
Metal shel]s, hou'ever, exhibit several standard varieties. The conlnonest
.. ariety is that in which the top sheli is covered and the under shell ieft
bare. The exposed metal hack, rvhich is often made of tin and lacquered
black, may or may not be imprinted with marks of one sort or another, such
as makers' na1rles. It is possible to collect marked backs as a sDecialization.
Less common are metal shells completely enveloped, top and bottom,
in cloth. That construction is called "encased."
By far the greatest number" of metal shells are stnooth-tottped rvhether
the top be flat, convex or concave. Sorne, horvever, are stamDed or aug-
mented to produce a fancy top. Very frequently these fancy-shaDed toDs,
',r,rhich were most popular in the mid-19th century, are in representational
shapes, anchors, birds, etc.
At the same time u'hen fancy cloth-covered toDS were ltopular, a similar
effect was achieved by the addition of olnatnents. Often a cloth-eovered
button rvas ernbellished by details of glass or metal rvhich changed the shape
as well as the design of the button top.
The mold construction as the nnrne implies, is one in which the coYer
fits like an envelope or like a sheath. The mold, in contrast to the metal
shell, is a single piece; it gives body to the button, but does not provide
its means for attaching the cover as the metal shell does. The cornmonest ma-
terials used for making button molds are wood, bone, horn and vegetable