Cards of buttons were sold at Woolworths variety stores from the 1920s. They started to sell home-branded carded buttons from the early 1950s.
These are later examples, from the 1970s-80s. They are not marked as made in Australia,: perhaps Woolworth was starting to import its buttons at this time.
Grandway branding took over from Woolworth, possibly in the 1980-90s.
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I have similar cards (similar size,shape and artwork) marked ‘Embassy’ instead of ‘Fashionable Buttons’. The Embassy examples are mostly labelled as made in Western Germany (some Czechoslovakia), the Fashionable Buttons all from Czechoslovakia. Both carry glass buttons. There was ill-feeling about communist countries in the 1950s. Perhaps G. J. Coles decided they didn’t want there own brand name on communist-made buttons?
The Sunday Herald (Sydney) 8th October 1950 p.2
The translucent buttons are made of polyester; the matte finish examples may be too.
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Probably every button manufacturer also made buckles, often of the same colours, materials and designs. During times when belts common on dresses and skirts, they were catering for the home-sewer who wanted matching buttons and buckles.
Technically, these are called slides, as they don’t have a prong. Early-mid 1950s.
Late 1960s-early 1970s. The buckle has been shrink-wrapped onto the card rather than sewn on as on the above card. Note the scoring on the card: this was for when it was used for selling buttons. If the buttons had shanks they could be pressed into the scored sections.
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Although manufactures, both G. Herring P/L and General Plastics Ltd also sold imported items, such as these British Made buttons. They are similar to the buttons sold during the same era by Coronet; flat casein with a pressed design. General Plastics used the vine-leaf border on many pre-1951 cards.
This distributor/wholesaler took over Coronet around 1945. They retained the Coronet logo, but added the name Roger Berry. Perhaps cards with a large number of buttons, like this, were sold to clothing manufacturers.
The dual pricing of 2/6 or 25 cents dates this to February 1966-October 1967.
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Images thanks to Simon Clegg Photography.
The Melbourne Tram Museum in Hawthorn informs me that the logo was used on uniform buttons from 1885 until 1916. Stokes were located at Post Office Place from 1888 until 1935, but the name was “Stokes & Martin” until 1892-3. Therefore, this button dates between 1893-1916.
Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/773982
The Melbourne Tramways & Omnibus Company was formed in July 1877 from the existing Melbourne Omnibus Company, started in 1868. These trams were of the cable variety, not electric.
Weekly Times (Melbourne), 14th July 1877 p.14
They merged with the rival Victorian tramways Company in 1882. A Tramways Trust, composed of members from the councils through which the trams ran, was legislated to construct the tramways and lease them to the Company.
Illustrated Sydney News, 4th June 1892 p.7
The final cost of the tramway system was quoted in 1892 as about £1.650,000 , including construction, legal, etc. In 1916 the M.T.& O. and the Trust were taken over buy the Tramway s Board, which became the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (M.M.T.B.) in 1918.
Francis Boardman Clapp (1833-1920) was the original driving force for bus and tram services in Melbourne, and the Chairman of the M.T.& O. A son, Harold Winthrop Clapp, became Chief Commissioner for railways in 1920. He has a diesel locomotive named in his honour.
PIC P805 LOC Q28-Bruce Howard collection [picture]/Romance of Australian trams photograph collection
1875 – 1952.
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Astor Industries still exist, but probably have not made buttons since 1985.
Shrink wrapped buttons: saves sewing them onto the card!
J Demetre & Co Pty Ltd are currently in the process of being deregistered. They distributed (rather than manufactured) buttons on cards like this from 1964 until the early 1970s. They may have sold tubes of buttons after that. They registered the business name ‘Demetre Buttons’ in 2000-1.
Although known for their buttons, they also produced buckles. I have this style in cream and pink.
The Embassy branded buttons was a trigger for me to investigate who actually made Australian buttons, as labelled on the card. I knew Coles did not manufacture their own house-label products. It turned out to be firstly General Plastics Ltd, then after 1963, by Beutron (Aust) Ltd.
This label rings bells in my memory. Was this an Australian brand? I can find a Brisbane lingerie company from 1906-1939, and Trimfit swimming costumes and shorts were advertised from 1947-1954. Let me know!
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Backmark: Stokes
Previously I had identified this button as belonging to the Campaigners for Christ Volunteers. An alternate identity has been proved to be true: the Victorian Corps of Commisssionaires. Along the way of investigating this, representatives of both organisations claimed the button as their own!
In 1936 a group of businessmen and Christian laymen in Melbourne and Sydney formed the Campaigners for Christ. During WW2 they were given permission to serve the forces by setting up “Everyman’s Huts” (and later Everywoman’s) for refreshment and entertainment. The staff wore military style uniforms and held honorary Officer status. These services were funded by donations. They still support the military today. Their logo shows an overlapping double C, very similar to that on the button.
Kenneth Matthews, Everyman’s Chief Commissioner, replied to me.
“Just getting back to you over the button. The best evidence we can get from our surviving members from that time is that it was from us. But that was an un-authorised production button most probably produced by one of our individuals without Board approval. For that reason it was either never worn or at least never worn extensively. It looks like a Victorian “V” Campaigners for Christ button but anyone who was around at that time from that branch is now no longer with us.
So you could say that it is an unofficial Victorian Campaigners for Christ button. Much like some old military insignia that is around, that was certainly worn even in conflict, but never was officially recognised by the army it was intended to represent.”
However, as George Zagon of The Corps pointed out “If one looks very closely the vertical C goes UNDER the horizontal C at the top of the crest and the horizontal C goes UNDER the vertical C at the bottom of the crest. The Corps’ C C on the button is the opposite. A subtle difference, but different.” A good point, although errors have been known on button designs in the past!
In the collection of Melbourne Legacy is a photo of Jim Tierney wearing his Corps uniform.
I received this information from George Zagon:
He also sent me images of a button and the front of his jacket:
Confusingly, the hat badge for the Commissionaire has a very different design, which originally made me doubt the buttons identity. See the badge with these links:
https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/626dc16a7d0d794d4b7f5cc8
https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/54a8c2bf2162f10f003111bd
See also
http://www.austbuttonhistory.com/defence-forces-uniform-buttons/veteran-organisations/
The button was shown in the book:
Stokes: A proud heritage, 140 years in Australian manufacturing Industry.
Greg passed this message on: “I shall be happy if you can circulate amongst your members the correct identification of the button. The button is mentioned on page 68 (where its identity is described as unconfirmed); shown on page 69 in rows C and D item (3); and identified incorrectly and illustrated as C 062 on page 121.”
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Ansell Freecorn was born in Poland, and arrived in Sydney in 1881. He married then travelled to Perth in 1885, and opened his tailoring establishment in Barrack Street, then a new store in Hay Street in 1888. However, he still owned the Queens Buildings in Barrack Street. As well as tailoring, he was a real estate developer/landlord.
The West Australian (Perth), 29th August 1885, p.4
During 1889-1994 he was granted a government tender to supply uniforms. In 1892 a woman sued him for desertion, claiming he had married her in Poland before moving to London then Sydney, with lurid claims of being forced into prostitution by Ansell. He denied the claims although it seems they had been, at least, in a de-facto relationship. Certainly a ‘Sarah Freecorn’ was described on immigration records as his wife, and when she died in Melbourne in 1893 he was in fact paying her maintenance as required by the Perth court. He later sent for documents from Poland claiming to prove there had not been a marriage, of which the newspapers gave a sympathetic reporting, but I suspect he was a cad!
For some reason, he was involved in many court cases whilst living in Perth. Many of these were involved with real estate he owned. Other cases involved him suing, or being sued. I’m not sure if he was a crook or unlucky! it certainly seemed to have been keen on litigation if crossed, although this may have been true of many Perth residents at that time.
During 1895 he made the unexpected decision to start up ‘The Perth Sanitary Company’ to remove “night waste” but the venture was short lived. His tailoring firm continued, with a branch in Fitzgerald Street, Northam.
In 1896 he was elected president of the West Perth Hebrew Congregation. He lived there until his death in November 1916, aged 67 years. Unfortunately he had attempted to treat either an ingrown toe-nail, or removed a corn (depending on which newspaper you read) with a razor, which had resulted in sepsis necessitating the amputation of both legs, then his death.
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This Woolworths logo dates from 1960-1966.
A mystery brand: Vida.
This logo was used from 1972.
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These cards date from 1949 until the 1980s.
This is the second card of Opal-Glo buttons with two shades of pink buttons included. Was this a mistake, a colour batch problem, or deliberate?
1949-1959
Early 1960s
The larger card dates from the mid 1970s, the smaller cards with the strangely shaped corners probably from the late 1970s.
Mid-late 1970s.
Early 1980s. Different printing on these cards.
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