2nd March 2024

A ‘Real’ Aussie Button

This approximately 15mm diametre covered button by Jan and Annette Pollard as part of their Jaemu fashion brand, is made of emu leather ‘grown’ in Wagga Wagga and tanned at Botany Bay. I cannot find any trace of this brand.

The West Australian (Perth), 3rd November 1933 page 11.

Emu were sometimes used to make cloaks worn by Koori peoples. The feathers were used for decorating hair, as well as for skirts made from plant fibres. They were worn as ornamental tufts on various parts of the body. A spear with a few emu feathers fixed could mark a grave.

Emu leather was not mentioned in newspapers until 1933-4, when various stores started selling handbags made from it. It can be a very fine and attractive product. Emu farming for leather was pioneered, unsuccessfully, in West Australia in 1970. Further attempts occurred, sometimes within Aboringinal communities, with the first export licence for emu products (mainly meat, oil and leather) granted in 1990. Larger numbers  of emu were/are farmed in America, Canada, Europe, India, China and New Zealand than in Australia! Farming numbers have sharply declined as the cost of keeping them, the space they require, and processing issues, have proved  problematic.

Emu feathers, as opposed to leathers, had a longer history of use by non-Koori Australians. Explorer Major Mitchell and his men wore emu and cockatoo feathers in their caps in 1836. Emu feathers were amongst produce donated to the new Trade Museum in London in 1854. 

Sunday Mail (Brisbane), 25th February 1940 page 6.

According to the article titled ‘Horse Feathers” that ran with the above pictures, the use of emu feathers by cavalry in Australia started with the Queensland Mounted Infantry who were called out to assist the civil powers during the unrest of the shearers strike of 1891. The Gympie Squadron were the first to start wearing the feathers in their hats, from emus that had been ‘ridden down’ during times of boredom. The trim proved popular, prompting the head of the mounted forces to successfully request the plumes become part of the official uniform.

Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld), 15th July 1891 page 6.

The feathers were worn during the Boer wars, both by the Queensland troops, but also reportedly by the New South Wales Lancers who travelled straight from Jubilee celebrations in London to South Africa and got there first. This is a little confusing, as the trim for the Lancers was traditionally black cocks’ feathers. Why did they have emu feathers this time? Is this in fact correct?

Goulburn Herald (NSW), 1st January 1904 page 2. From an article describing dress regulations for officers of the new Commonwealth Military Forces.

Post South Africa, the Queensland Light Horse retained the emu feathers as official uniform trim. They were also popular in West Australia, but less so in the Eastern states; this changed during  WW1. Much to the initial annoyance of Queensland units, the Minister for Defence ruled that the whole of the Australian Light Horse would wear the plumes. During that war the feathers were mistakenly called ‘kangaroo feathers’ by non-Australians. 

The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 6th January 1937 page 3.

In this 1940 article it stated that only cavalrymen were permitted to wear them, but they were not supplied and had to be privately purchased!

Air Force News, 9th October 2014 page 26.

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29th February 2024

Pearl Buttons on Foil: part 2

What was the ” foil” that was used as a backing behind pearl buttons as described by Dickens in 1852? It may have been “silver paper”. Dating from the last decades of the 18th century, “silver paper” was actually a form of white tissue paper, initially used by jewellers to wrap items of gold and silver, and perhaps giving the paper its name. Coloured silver paper was developed during the reign of William IV, including actual silver. Plain silver paper was brushed with a starch paste then layered with thin silver leaf. For an interesting article on this, see  https://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/before-silver-paper-was-silver/.

I found “gold and silver sheet paper” for sale in Sydney dated 1823, and an article describing the theft of jewellery from a store where it was stated that ” The jewellery are always covered with silver paper …”

The Tasmanian (Hobart Town), 4th November 1836 page 7. From a description of making plaster copies of medals or coins.

At some stage, the foil used would have changed to tin-foil, and later, aluminium foil. Aluminium foil was manufactured from 1910 but is still sometimes called tin foil, the product which it superseded. Tin-foil was referred to in newsprint  from the 1820s, although at this stage it was sometimes actually lead foil being referred to.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 8th May 1928 page 7. If this article is accurate, the “invention” of tin foil in America described below  may refer to the innovation of industrial production.

The Daily News (Perth), 8th September 1906 page 18.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 22nd August 1940 page 20. Children were collecting used metal for the war efforts.

The Herald (Melbourne), 17th January 1950 page 12.

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28th February 2024

Pearl Buttons on Foil: part 1

Anyone with even a passing familiarity with vintage buttons will be aware that in the past mother of pearl (MOP) buttons were frequently, although not exclusively, sewn onto cards on a layer of silver foil/paper. We often wonder why; was it just to make the buttons look pretty, or was there another reason? When did this practice start? Were other types of backing paper used? For that matter, when were buttons first sewn onto cards?

I assume the sewing of buttons onto cards started with the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, when buttons started to be manufactured in large quantities. Certainly outworkers were being paid a pittance to sew buttons and other haberdashery items, such as hook and eyes, onto cards by the 1850s. Charles Dickens wrote an essay, published on 10th April 1852 entitled ‘What there is in a Button’:  https://www.onefivenine.info/buttons/Dickens_Household_Words.htm

In part of this essay he addresses the carding of MOP buttons:

The subsidiary concerns of these large manufactories strike us by their importance, when on the spot, though we take no heed to them in our daily life. When the housewife has taken into use the last of a strip of pearl buttons, she probably gives to the children the bit of gay foil on which they were tacked, without ever thinking where it came from, or how it happened to be there. The importation of this foil is a branch of trade with France. We cannot compete with the French in the manufacture of it. When we saw it in bundles—gay with all gaudy hues—we found it was an expensive article, adding notably to the cost of the buttons, though its sole use is to set off their translucent quality, to make them more tempting to the eye.

“The subsidiary concerns of these large manufactories strike us by their importance, when on the spot, though we take no heed to them in our daily life. When the housewife has taken into use the last of a strip of pearl buttons, she probably gives to the children the bit of gay foil on which they were tacked, without ever thinking where it came from, or how it happened to be there. The importation of this foil is a branch of trade with France. We cannot compete with the French in the manufacture of it. When we saw it in bundles—gay with all gaudy hues—we found it was an expensive article, adding notably to the cost of the buttons, though its sole use is to set off their translucent quality, to make them more tempting to the eye.

We saw a woman, in her own home, surrounded by her children, tacking the buttons on their stiff paper, for sale. There was not foil in this case between the stiff paper and the buttons, but a brilliant blue paper, which looked almost as well. This woman sews forty gross in a day. She could formerly, by excessive diligence, sew fifty or sixty gross; but forty is her number now—and a large number it is, considering that each button has to be picked up from the heap before her, ranged in its row, and tacked with two stitches.”

All gaudy hues”, although expensive, where being used simply to “to set off their translucent quality”. It was (perhaps it still is?) simply a form of marketing!. The use of blue paper makes sense, too. From https://www.oldtreasurybuilding.org.au/lost-jobs/in-the-home/laundry/ it is explained that, in the days of washing in a copper (still common in 1950s Australia) that “after the requisite time in the copper, the items were lifted out using a sturdy laundry stick into two or three tubs of cold water for rinsing. In many laundries the last tub contained a bluing agent, to make the wash look whiter”. G. Herring used the same optical effect by selling “boil-tested white” buttons on blue cards.

Here are some examples of cards of fresh-water pearl buttons made and sold in America from the 1890s onwards. These cards probably date from 1910-1950s.

c.1910-1920. Examples using green and silver foil.

Clever use of the colour blue as part of the cards’ artwork, eliminating the need for added foil.

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27th February 2024

Large 1950s Beauclaire Cards

Metalised plastic. I have this design in plain plastic also.

From a button tin:

An Aros buckle ( by H. Arendsen & Sons)

Astor Covered Buttons

Although the button on the left looks and feels like cork, the back view shows it is not.

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26th February 2024

Jiggers and other Link-fasteners

See also http://www.austbuttonhistory.com/29th-may-2023/

This could be used as a “sweater guard”:

Weekly Times (Melbourne), 18th December 1946 page 23.

The Land (Sydney), 12th February 1943 page 16.

“Link fastening” coats, suits and cardigans were advertised along-side button fastening versions in the late 1920s to the early 1950s.

Weekly Times (Melbourne), 1st July 1953 page 45.

This “link Fastening appears to use a buckle rather than linked buttons or clasps, and may not have been very comfortable!

The Sun (Sydney), 14th September 1937 page 12. “Note also the demure collar and cuffs”.

And for gloves:

The Daily News (Perth), 29th April 1926 page 6.

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24th February 2024

Glove Buttons and Implements: part 2

Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney), 12th November 1887 page 41.

 Gift sets often included glove and shoe hooks, show horns and glove stretchers.

These were hallmarked in Birmingham in 1911, possibly for Green & Cadbury Ltd.

Cheap versions were often made as branded free gifts by manufacturers and retailers.

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23rd February 2024

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.

The Queenslander (Brisbane), 8th September 1888 page 419.

The Bulletin, 27th October 1894 page 21.

The Bulletin, 3rd August 1901 page 18.

Weekly Times (Melbourne), 31st October 1921 page 14. I don’t imagine the smell of petrol would ever completely leave the gloves. Urggh.

Please do not try the following …

Daily Standard (Brisbane), 12th December 1932 page 2.

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21st February 2024

Shoe Buttons.

Pictures thanks to Carol.

Above: vegetable ivory with pin shanks and with MOP inserts.

Above: MOP and unknown materials.

Above: glass with both pin-shank and inserted wire shanks.

Shoe and boot buttons, usually dome-shaped, were often made of  papier-maché, soaked in linseed oil, baked then laquered, giving the appearance of wood. The box on the right is labelled ‘paper’.

They were also made of other materials, including jewelled examples. A button hook was essential for pulling the button through the material of the boots. I have found “glass shoe buttons” advertised as early as 1840.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 10th August 1840 page 3. From a list of items for auction.

They were sewn onto both leather and fabric-topped shoes and boots. Black and white colours were the most common, but coloured varieties were also made. By the 1930s the old fashioned button-up boots were for the most part long gone, although buttoned slippers, and ladies fashion ankle boots with one or two decorative buttons were advertised. Things were described as ‘outdated as button-up boots’.

The Dawn (Sydney), 1st February 1898 page 11.

Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney) 4th January 1902 page 19.

The World News (Sydney), 6th June 1914 page 11.

Sunday Times (Perth), 8th October 1916 page 11.

See http://www.austbuttonhistory.com/22nd-september-2021/

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20th February 2024

Tailor’s Button

A. W. Bargery, Sth Richmond

What innocent times, when the results of draughts competitions were reported in the news! Arthur William Bargery was listed as a player from 1894 onwards. His first advert for his tailoring services occurred in 1898, listed at 35 Green Street, South Richmond. He was born in Middlesex, England in 1858 and came out to Australia sometime after 1881.

Richmond Guardian (Melbourne), 10th May 1902 page 2.

He appears to have been a nice boss:

Richmond Guardian (Melbourne), 26th April 1912 page 2.

Detail of photo in the Weekly Times (Melbourne), 25th July 1914 page 27. The gentleman on the right numbered “23” is Mr Bargery, aged 57 years at this time.

He was still a keen competitor at age 78. He lived until 1948, aged 91 years.

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19th February 2024

Tailor’s Button

Chas Lane & Co. Melbourne

The Home: An Australian Quarterly, 1st December 1924 page 53.

Charles James Lane had worked for the Mutual Store before running his own business, at first in Collins Street then Elizabeth Street. He formed the company of Charles Lane & Co in 1910 and served as chairman of the Master tailors’ Association. He may well have been a master tailor, but he was not a master businessman, which came out when he sued his bank over a refused promissory note. He was heavily overdrawn with the bank who were going to sell his assets to recover the debt.  He died in 1925 aged 57 years.The following year the business was bought by Marcus Clark (Victoria) Ltd. His son, also called Charles James Lane,  had been a partner in his father’s firm. He became a board member of both Craig, Williamson P/L and Marcus Clark (Vic) Ltd.

News (Adelaide), 5th June 1929 page 11.The store was replaced, incongruously, by a fish shop!

The Herald (Melbourne), 9th July 1930 page 13.

He was a real estate company director who died suddenly, aged 49 years, in 1954. He was remembered as a talented athlete and golfer.

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