Looking through these department /haberdashery/tailoring stores ads can be an enjoyable trip down nostalgia lane, and hopefully help identifying buttons in your own collection. From the 1940s, Australian made buttons started appearing in department store advertising.
As well as these store advertisements, I hope you enjoy looking at the examples on the following pages devoted to a few of the larger brands; Leda, Beauclaire and Beutron.
1902
The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 24th May 1902 page 1447.
1910
The Muswellbrook Chronicle (NSW), 26th February 1910 page 2.
1930
Truth (Sydney), 5th January 1930 page 15.
The Telegraph (Brisbane), 2nd April 1930 page 19.
The Sun (Sydney), 14th July 1930 page 7. From England, Extra Fine Hand Finished buttons.
1933
The Advertiser (Adelaide) 13th September 1933 page 23.
The Australasian, 14th October 1933 page 15. Buttons, buckles and slides from polished Australian wood.
1934
The Sun (Sydney) 20th February, 1934
Australian Women’s Weekly, 10th March 1934 page 44.
The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) 16th April 1934 page 10.
1935
The Sun (Sydney), 21st February 1935 page 29.
The Australian Women’s Weekly, 15th March 1935 page 39.
The Sun (Sydney) 17th March, 1935 page 36.
The Sun (Sydney), 7th May 1935 page 3.
The Sun (Sydney), 11th June 1935 page 3. 1: chromium and eriniod. 2-5: wooden. 6: square eriniod. 7: coloured metal. 8: two tone erinoid. 9: glass and chromium. 10: square wooden. 11: glass.
The Sun (Sydney) 8th August 1935 page 21.
1936
The Sun (Sydney) 29th March, 1936 page 17.
The Sun (Sydney) 2nd June, 1936 page 18.
The Sun (Sydney), 15th October 1936 page 6.
Australian Women’s Weekly, 19th September 1936
page 56. The fish is probably Australian, the prawn possibly. The fish can be seen again in a 1937 advert.
Australian Women’s Weekly, 24th October 1936 page 56.
1937
Button department at Farmer’s store. Australian Women’s Weekly, 6th March 1937 page 21.
The Sun (Sydney), 15th June 1937 page 5. L to R Top : bone, macrame. Bottom bone, shells, bone. I suspect “the “bone” buttons were actually composition.
The Sun, 29th July 1937 page 23.
The Sun (Sydney), 29th August 1937 page 36.
Truth (Brisbane) 5th September 1937 page 27.
The Telegraph (Brisbane) 8th September, 1937 page 13.
The Sun (Sydney), 23rd September 1937 page 30.
Australian Women’s Weekly, 2nd October 1937 page 25. The man and larger round button were wooden, the rest of the buckles and buttons, china.
The Advertiser (Adelaide), 6th October 1937 page 1.
This ad appeared several times in several newspapers from 1937-8. The buttons were either described as bone or composition, and from Czechoslovakia or Europe. The example seen are definitely not bone, but some type of plastic, possibly casein. Some at least may have been made locally.
1938
The Sun (Sydney), 3rd February 1938 page 31.
Dull gold butterfly, bright gold chicken, bone leaf (probable composition).
Australian Women’s Weekly, 30th April 1938 page 37.
The Sun (Sydney), 12th May 1938 page 34.
Australian Women’s Weekly, 4th June 1938 page 35.
The Sun (Sydney) 9th June 1938 page 31. “Exciting spirit lifters”.
The Newcastle Sun (NSW), 18th August 1938 page 5.
Truth (Brisbane), 11th September 1938 page 13.
Herald (Melbourne) 10th Nov 1938 page 30.
1939
The Advertiser (Adelaide), 22 February 1939 page 1.
Australian Women’s Weekly, 22nd April 1939 page 31.
Sunday Mail(Qld) 28th May 1939 page 31. The G. Herring can be seen on several of these cards.
The Telegraph (Brisbane), 14th June 1939 page 23.
The Telegraph (Brisbane), 10th August 1939 page 19.
Australian Women’s Weekly, 16th September 1939 page 31.
1940
The Telegraph (Brisbane) 13th March, 1940 page 5. Erinoid dress slides and buttons.
The Telegraph (Brisbane) 18th April 1940 page 7.
The Telegraph( Brisbane), 27th June 1940 page 7.
The Sunday Sun and Guardian, 21st July 1940 page 12.
The Sun (Sydney), 15th October 1940 page 8.
1941-2
The Sun, 9th March 1941 page 7. Love the bird buttons.
The Sun(Sydney) 20th August 1941 page 11. Swiss buttons.
The Daily News, 14th Jan 1942 page 5. These were made in Australia.
1945
The Sun (Sydney) 4th January 1945 page 10.
1946
The Sun (Sydney), 14 February 1946 page 13. Australian made.
1947
The Sun(Sydney), 6th February 1947 page 4.
Northern Star, 17th May 1947 page 3.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 21st October 1947 page 5.
1948
The Sydney Morning Herald, 15th July 1948 page 6. Detail from a larger ad showing the large size Beutron cards.
1949
Sydney Morning Herald, 13th January 1949 page 7. The Beutron ‘wash buttons’ on large cards that could be cut into four are seen top left.
The Tumut and Adelong Times (NSW), 22nd February 1949 page 4. “Beutron Opal-Glo Buttons’ were not well known enough for the printer to notice this error.
The Braidwood Review and District Advocate, 31st May 1949 page 1. The all Purpose cards with added cotton started to be advertise from this time.
The Argus (Melbourne), 11th June 1949 page 5. Sydney based designer and manufacturer.
The Argus (Melbourne), 11th June 1949 page 39.Large cards including “famous Beutron Boiling buttons” and second down in the pile, General Plastic buttons.
Nepean Times, 15th September 1949 page 5. See the Coronet page for more on the Disney buttons.
1950
The Sun, 2nd February, 1950 page 12. See the G. herring page for examples of the ‘washing line’ card.
Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 4th June 1950. Note the misspelling of the name. Cards with this design were for Beutron Irridel buttons.
Worker (Brisbane), 19th June 1950 page 3.
The Albany Advertiser, 20th July 1950 page 1.
1951
The Sun (Sydney), 19 Jun 1951 page 9.
1952
The Sun (Sydney), 24 July 1952 page 32.
The Herald, 25th September 1952 page 19.
The Daily telegraph (Sydney), 16th November 1952 page 50.
1953
The Sun (Sydney), 10th August 1953. Some of the cards in the illustration are clearly Beauclaire brand.
The Sunday Herald (Sydney), 16th August 1953 page 7.
The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 26th August 1953 page 7.
Lithgow Mercury (NSW), 21st May 1953 page 3. Note that the larger cards are still sold, including Beutron Tub buttons.
1954
Sunday Mail (Brisbane), 4th April 1954 page 7.
The Herald (Melbourne), 10th June 1954 page 16. The 2 on the right and the middle left are Beutron buttons.
The Sun (Sydney), 24 June 1954 page 32.
The Telegraph (Brisbane), 25th August 1954 page 3.
1958
The Australian Women’s Weekly, 9 April 1958 page 53.
The Canberra Times, 11th July 1958 page 5.
1969
The Canberra Times, 9th October 1969 page 18.