Glove Buttons and Implements: part 1

Many gloves were adorned with diminuative or small buttons of glass, ceramic, pearl, metal and other materials, even jewelled. They had a flattened, staple-shaped shank to help the buttons sit flush against the arm when the gloves were worn.

Pictures supplied by Carol.

Due the small size, and the stiffness of the (preferred) kid leather, button hook were a necessity, as were glove stretchers. In ignorance, I though the glove-stretchers were curling tongs!

According to Wikipedia:

A Glove stretcher is a 19th century device for “easing” (stretching) gloves. The rounded tips of the stretchers, typically made of two wooden pieces hinged in the middle and spring-loaded, were placed inside the fingers of a glove. The handles were then squeezed so the fingers were stretched, allowing the glove to be put on without damaging it. The scissors-like implements were also made from metal and celluloid. They were needed for kid-leather gloves, as this material was preferred (it covered ‘imperfections’ of the hand), but was not stretchy. They were a common household object in Victorian and Edwardian times.