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Button Country

An Educational Resource for Button Collectors - originally created by Paul Rice

19th Century Button Patents

To download and print a pdf of a

patent use the Google Patent Search and enter

the patent description below in the Search Window.


19th Century Button Patents

1830  American wire eyed cast buttons

1831  Dead eyed wood buttons

1833  Dead eyed wood buttons

1839  Dies for stamping button blanks

1840  Early rivet button

1841  Improved manufacture of ceramic button

1843  Improvement in making paper buttons

1845  Improvement in making "Pantaloon-Buttons"

1848  Application of Gutta Percha

1849  Wood molds for fabric covered buttons

1849  Improvements in fabric covered buttons

1849  Preparing strawboard for buttons

1850  Helix wire shank buttons

1851  Dies for making ornamental buttons

1851  Silk covered buttons

1852  Manufacturing Glass-Centered buttons (Cheshire)

1853  Gutta-Percha and India Rubber buttons(Goodyear)

1854  Manufacture of wood buttons

1860  Threadless buttons

1861  Buttons for holding photographs

1861  Revolving flexible eye (padback)

1861  Improvement in suspender buttons

1862  Improvement in padback buttons

1863  Tunnel shank buttons

1863  Bar shank buttons

1864  Process for making glass buttons

1865  "Hansom/Tasty" button display cards

1865  Use of Mother of Pearl  *******

5  Picture frame buttons

1865  Molds for making glass buttons

1866  Helical spiral wire shank buttons

1867  Improved fasteners for studs/buttons

1867  Improved manufacture of enameled wood

1868  Ornamental fabric buttons

1868  Securing shanks to glass buttons

1868  Chain button fastener

1869  Hard rubber and Jet buttons

1869  Design patent for "Good Templars"

1870  Attaching shanks to composition and pearl buttons

1872  Combined sleeve buttons and lockets

1872  Preparing wood for buttons

1873  Removable shank for buttons

1873  Improved molds for fancy fabric buttons

1873  One piece metal buttons

1873  Wire screen backs for glass buttons

1874  Attaching buttons to shoes and gaiters

1874  Using pins for button fasteners

1874  Inexpensive buttons made from wire

1875  Improvement to reduce wobble of wire shanks

1875  Manufacture of glass in metal buttons

1876  Process for making casein

1876  Domed woven ropes design

1876  Printing with dye on vegetable ivory ******

1876  Improvements to strengthen padbacks

1877  Making glass buttons without a mold

1877  Metal loop shanks in cup design

1878  Improvement to reduce wear on fabric buttons

1879  Design for a separable and removable button

1879  Manufacture of cast metal shanks

1879  Using blood for mottled ornamental buttons

1880  Fastening buttons with wire loops

1880  Manufacturing Horn Buttons

1880  Plate and loop shank for glass buttons (12/28/80)

1880  Process for making leather or paper buttons

1880  Two piece Mother of Pearl buttons

1880  Uniting enamel and glass to metal

1880  Ornamental plastic cookie buttons

1880  Process for powdered horn buttons

1880  Bar shank for composition buttons

1880  Padbacks on composition buttons

1880  Buttons from hoof dust and blood

1880  Suspender button with crossbar

1880  Inlaying buttons with plastic materials

1880  Etching pearl buttons with Silver Nitrate

1881  Sew through buttons with plastic rivet design

1881  Soldering shanks for two piece buttons

1881  Button hole cutter

1881  Four-way thread groove design

1881  Gluing cloth to metal for fabric buttons

1881  Foil backs for buttons from pearl, horn, bone, etc.

1882  Using nails for shanks in molded buttons

1882  Gold leaf background in metal buttons

1882  Wood ball button with OME

1882  Metal backs on vegetable ivory buttons

1882  Ornamental rims on metal buttons

1883  OME on vegetable ivory buttons

1883  Rivet button

1883  Bar shank in glass button

1883  Canvas back on solid front buttons

1883  Mother of Pearl ornamentation

1883  Loop shank for glass with spiral wire plate

1883  Improvement for a frame button

1883  Attaching MOP to button body

1883  Oblong shoe button design

1884  Bar shanks in glass buttons

1884  Gluing two piece buttons

1885  Perfumer button *******

1885  Soldered omega shank

1885  Button hook holder on shoe

1885  Replaceable face button

1885  Special turned wire shank for glass buttons

1885  Link sleeve button

1886  Manufacture of leather buttons

1886  Replaceable face for Uniform/Civilian use

1886  Multiple face button

1886  Design under Glass button

1886  Leo Popper loop and plate shank design  *****

1887  Button cleaning shield

1888  Button with crochet and embroidered cover

1888  Covered ball button

1888  Buttons imitating other materials

1889  Political button with slide out plate *****


Patents for Button Manufacturing Tools


1842  Punch for making fabric buttons

1849  Machine for making wood button molds

1858  Machine for Bapterosses shanked buttons

1865  Machine for making glass buttons

1865  Molding shanks into glass buttons

1865  Hand mold for making glass and composition buttons

1866  Machine for molding buttons from plastic materials

1868  Machine for making button from horn

1870  Machine for grinding pearl blanks

1870  Machine for making shaped glass buttons

1870  Molds for glass buttons

1873  Bapterosses machine for ceramic buttons

1873  Glass press for metal shanked glass buttons

1874  Press for ornamenting ivory buttons

1879  Lathe for turning horn buttons

1880  Bapterosses machine for ceramic buttons

1884  Press for making horn buttons

1884  Pearl grinding machine

Back to Special Topics

links page

For the more adventurous, you can click  links below to access the US Patent Office where you can find more information on a specific patent number or look for patents by classification. The effort is not trivial for the older patents. Most viewers will have to install an add-on to your browser to see the image format (tif) as discussed at the US Patent Office site. A simpler solution is to use the Google advanced patent search engine which also has a link below.

The United States Patent and Trade Mark Office (USPTO)

Google Advanced Patents Search


Acknowledgements:

A special thanks to Joan Lindsay & Joy Journeay for their expert editing skills!