Beauclaire Buckles: circa 1950

Bottom left is a metalised plastic version in gold. The ‘silver’ one appears to be painted grey. The others have a pearlised finish over the coloured plastic.

Beauclaire “coloured boilproof” buckles were advertised from 1951-56. I would not like to boil these, as I am not sure the pearlised coating would cope well. These are technically “slides” , as they do not include a prong for passing through a hole. According to Wikipedia “this type was frequently used in home dress-making (the belt ends being secured with the simple hook-and-eye or snap fastener) and was purely used for decoration … ” From a 1937 sewing pattern:

The Queenslander (Brisbane), 21st January 1937, page 16.

Another way to secure a belt when using a slide, was to sew one end of the belt around the centre bar of the slide, then thread the other end of the belt through it. If the belt slipped, the ‘free’ end could be folded back under/over the centre bar.

The ends of a scarf could be threaded through a slide. Slides could also be used to decorate a hat band.

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