Page 57 - May1954

May, 1954 NATIONAL BUTTON BUI,LETIN 247

a\Iine Borttles. Consists of 4 buttons: brown, blue, orange retl antl green, crude
bottles, more like earthenware in appearance. Size Lth" labels not reaalable.
Ceramic or plastic, metal shank. Italy. Each bottle top as thoug:h sealed
with sealing: wax.
avlnds-Mah Jong. Consists of 4 buttons: each wlth sing:Ie letter upper lef t
corner, representing East, W'est, North, South winds. Small, white; characters
in black, red. a. plastic, self-shank, oblong, rounded corners. b. same as a.
but square corners. c. another set, metal shank and insert of plastic.
al'orld's tr'atr 1. Consists of 6 buttons; Shaped like buildingis: Trylon 1939,
Aquacade, Administration, Transportation, Communication, Chrysler. Lechlc.
a. plastic, self -shank, trimmed-several colors. b. plastic, self -shank, un-
trimmed. c. also issued in a metal, painted whlte.
The following were voted as approvecl a,t Long: Beach in 1953, but neeil
further clarification. Do you have sets of these on card.s?
Animals-Blrds (feathered)l Consists of 4 items at present: swan, rooster, flying-
biral, goose with hat. Plastic, 2-holed. D'eeper incised lines.
Animnla-Mammals (haired). Consists of 6 items at present: rabbit, cat, monkey,
bear (tedaly?), cocker spaniel, terrier. Plastic, 2-holed, flne linecl. Severai
co lo rs.
AnimalFFish- (fl4neal)._. Consists of 2 specified_ anal perhaps aalditional items,
seahorse, flat flsh. Plastic, 2-hole, several colors.
THE EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK
When I talked with you last I was
anticipating the arrival of your Club reports.
Since our March magazine was late, very few
reports (as per request) have come in. By
the time this magazine is printed, however,
I will most likely be elbow-deep in CIub
Iists for the July Directory.
X'rom late fall until January we were
head-over-heels in examining and photograph-
ing pearl buttons. Airmails flew between
'Wisconsin and Hightstowtr until that project
was completed. Between times I was working
with Jane Adams on Textiles, and we began
gathering specimens from Mary Leonardson,
Dorothy Lloyd, Ruby Darrohn, Margaret
Kelso, Viviane Ertell Tessa Downs, Mrs.
Perry Borden, Mrs. Walter Washburn and
anyone that had a type different from those already photographed.
As Jane examined more and more examples, she kept reworking and
improving her original draft, sparing neither time, effort or self, as she
tried to fit the multitudinous materials, techniques and types into the
classiflcation. I know if time hadn't run out for the both of us she would
have begun all overl Once after several months of work on the proiect
Jane wrote-"\Mhy didn't I tackle something easy like glass!"
Working out these classiflcations pictorially is really time consuming
and it could almost wreck a happy home, for I'm no more out of one
mess than I'm plunged deep into the next! In each instance several hun-
dred button types are gathered for study atrd photographing (in the case
of the textiles many were so drab and dark that it was a real accomplishment
to get recognizable results).
Since I work with single button pictures for these set-ups, every
available inch of floor space in the room in which I work (except a narrow
lane for thru traffc) has a table on which are spread out hundred.s of pictures
for selection in the first draft. Then comes the criticism. Some are
lemoved and others are substituted. Next, we are ready to measure and
draw the cards to flt each page and to do the flnal arrangement that you
see in the pages of the classification.