Page 9 - May1954

May,1954 NATIONAL BUTTON BULLETIN 199

V. I)ecoration of fabric, assorted
unlisted
embroidery (including beads used in this way)
hand
machine
painting
VI. Trim, assorted (textites used auxiliary to other materials)
unlisted
background
cord
cut-out
laid centers
parti-textile
VII. Slrapes, assorted
specialized
YIII. Surnnary

PROPOSED CLASSIFICATION FOR TEXTILE BUTTONS

In this section of the classification we take up buttons that employ
thread and woven fabrics for decorative purposes. we specify ,,decorative
purposes" rather than "for making buttons,, because textiles are so seldom
used by themselves to make a button. Nearly always they require a firm
body of some other material such as metal, wood or bone to which they can
be attached.

rncluded as textiles are all flbrous raw materials which have been spun,
lvoven or felted and added to them in this section are beads and metallic
thread which are worked with them. skins and hides, whether in the form
of fur or leather, are not included here since they are materials of an entirelv
different sort.

The two-part construction common to textile buttons (cover and mold)
provide a logical basis for their classification. They fall naturally and
easily into broad groups, leaving only the problem of how broad the groups
should be. This is a very serious problem and one difrcult to deal with.
The ideal is to have a class for every specialization possible; but this cannot
be done with buttons that are found in as infinite variety of colors, materials
and craftsmanship as the textiles are.
'were
we to set up classes naming each color, we would have a catalogue
of all known colors, or nearly so. It would take sixty classes to enumerate
the colors sold in a single season by a single German button-maker for the
tailoring trade alone, for that is the number of shades that he advertised as
"having in stock."
'Were
we to classify not all textile buttons ever made, but only the
comparatively few types seen at the Great Exposition of 1gb1 according to
the kinds of covers used, we would need classes for: linen, brown Holland,