Page 43 - May1954

\Ia1', 1954 NATIONAL RUTTON BULLETIN

(Note: The rnany friends arld associates of nIr. Otto Roschen (retirecl presi-
cient of B. (;. & lt.) receiYed a srnall $'ooden shoe (b€lill in€i the trade nlme of
this N. Y. C. Fifm) from Holiand rt'ccntll-. IIr. Bos(.h('n was in l{oll&n(l l)ul-ing
buttons, having pl eviouslJ' r-isited the leading stl.le (icnters-Paris, London,
Rorne and lTadrid.-Ed.)
BUTTONS FROM HOLLAND FOR BAILEY, GREEN & ELGER
'Ihc corrnection bt'trveerr a 17th-centur)' lace call ancl a n)o(1enr-clay
BGE button mal, seern rcruote, but, accorrling to Robert l-. Iloschen.
presi(lent of Bailey, Greern ancl Elger, the tw,o have a cotnrnon meeting
grounct.
That meeting qround is Spakenburg, Ilollancl, rvhele tlie ceirtr:rries
blend harmoniously irrto each othcr; ancl the native inlialiitants see
nothing strange in r'r'earing traditiotral \\.ooclen shoes to $'orli in button
far:tories as up-to-the-minute as A$erica's finest.
Those l'ho contend that the rornalrce of button-maliing has yielclecl
to moclern mechanization lvill find strorrg rebuttal in this tiny Dutch
village. Present-cla1. efficiency' is teamed with old-fashioned crafts-
manship to produce some of the u.ollcl's finest galalith buttons.
Women in Spakenburg dress in the customary garb that originated
hundreds of years ago. Stiff-starchecl lace caps top coiffures tirat gloom
forn'ard to frame their faces with formidable pompadours. Tl their
costumes, clisp rvings of floral prints offer striliing contrast to their
piairl frolt par:els and their checliered sleeves. Sl<irts are full ancl
voluminous; billorred out bl' multiple petticoats, the top three or four
of i'r'liich are tossecl over tlieit heacls on rainy days as substitute rlrn-
brellas. These rvomeu, dressetl unchangingl)r frorn generation to gerrera-
tion apparentlr- finrl no
incongrnitr- irr the fact
iiu that the btrttorrs they
produce elt'trtualll'
acloln the smaltest
Y fashions fxln liome to
Paris to Nerv York.

QUAINT COSI'UMES of
these Spakenburg
---__ * damsels offer interesting
contrast to tlre sleekly-
**" rnoderrr galalith buttotrs
they are preparing for
?t?,lfi. l shipment through BGF)'s
'qfr' *T:g "'@ offices to cities all over
America.
f"'
The men incline in their clress tonarcl I'orh ciothes with cluaint
pantaloon trousers tied at the ankles. They, too, have ignorecl the
march of time u'hen it comes to their footwear. Woocien shoes. as much
lilie those of Ilans Brinkc'r as tradition can make them, l'ork tlie
treadles ancl foot levers of Elearnins. streamlined machines.