Henry Buck’s, Melbourne

c.1928.

This dates c. 1928, as the advert mentions 38 years of making menswear. Henry Buck was born in London in 1860, although he grew up in Yorkshire. In 1887 he came to New South Wales as he was suffering from tuberculosis. His health improved, he moved to Melbourne for his fiance’s sake, where he would start his men’s shirt business in Swanston Street in 1890.

He was a very successful businessman, and involved in many organisations and charities. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his work for the Red Cross during World War 1. His son-in-law, Frederick Dennett, was invited to join the firm, and became a director. Henry died in 1933 whilst in London on an extended holiday. The firm remains a family owned menswear and accessory specialist to this day.

Weekly Times, 26th May 1900 page 5.

The Herald, 15th May 1917 page 5. Henry Buck ‘Vice President of the Volunteer Motor Corps”

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/buck-henry-12824

https://henrybucks.com.au/pages/about-us

Handi Iron

This “pumpless” iron was sold in Australia from 1934. Presumably the iron was pumpless as the fuel tank was raised above the heating surface, so the petrol did not have to be pumped to heat the plate. They company was still selling petrol powered lantens, irons and twin burner stovettes in 1977.

Pacific Islands Monthly, 23rd April 1936 page 75.

Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld), 14th April 1934 page 5.

The Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 24th July 1946 page 3.

I can’t imagine but that they would have been smelly to use.

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New Finds

The 1970s-80s Embassy buttons have a nice, coppery finish inside the rim. The Woolworths buttons were amongst the last to be sold on this style card, before they changed to the red/white/blue with the Big W chevron.

‘Busk Protector’

Some ladies must have been having problems with the fastening of their girdles.

Apparently a busk was “a strip of rigid material such as whalebone, wood, ivory, shell or steel, set into the front of a corset to make it sit flat and straight” and to define the profile of the wearer (yuk!) They were used from the 16th-early 20th centuries. They were commonly 25-38 centimetres long, and thicker at the breast than at the waist. They were advertised in Australian newspapers from 1895-1925.

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New Finds

Beauclaire

Although Beauclaire buttons were not advertised until 1953, I presume these cards were sold from late 1950, or soon after.

This card was produced and sold in New Zealand by General Plastics (New Zealand) Ltd. This artwork was not used in Australia, nor was the line ‘The Leda in fashion’, although the same style of button was sold here from 1953. This card dates from around 1958. In 1957, Jack Quinn, who had been general Manager for the company since around 1946 , left to manage another New Zealand Plastic concern.

Architecture and Arts magazine,November 1957 page 30.

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New Finds

Beutron

This is a style #660, in the smallest size made by G.Herring, about 11mm or 5 lignes. They date from 1949- early 1950s. The detail from advertising below quotes from the card: ‘They launder and Dry Clean. Hot irons can’t hurt them.’

Brisbane Telegraph, 24th October 1951 page 7.

According to The Plastics Historical Society (https://plastiquarian.com/?page_id=14228) casein was/is a good material for buttons because it readily took a surface dye, allowing for quick response to changes in fashion, polished well, is a beautiful material and “it is resistant to washing, dry cleaning and can withstand momentary contact with a hot iron – unlike most other competitive early plastics materials, but with the advent of the newer plastics after 1945 its use gradually declined.” As clothing was still often washed by boiling in coppers, and increasingly in washing machines, washability was an important factor for housewives.

Glass buttons, and therefore imported.

After a decade of selling ‘Originals’ on plain white cards, and having lost a court case to stop rival General Plastics coping their style of card with added cotton, the former decided to change the styling of all their lines of buttons. The Cards above and below were two of the new styles adopted in the early 1960s.

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Vintage Haberdashery

Embassy Slide fastener: 1959-1965

See http://www.austbuttonhistory.com/31st-january-2024/

Berlei Bias Binding

See http://www.austbuttonhistory.com/17th-january-2024/

http://www.austbuttonhistory.com/3rd-november-2023/

Korbond  Products

See also http://www.austbuttonhistory.com/28th-january-2024/

http://www.austbuttonhistory.com/19th-january-2024/

http://www.austbuttonhistory.com/15th-august-2023/

c.1960

1950-60s

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Kangaroo Toilet Pin Sheet

A toilet pin dates from the era before the button became commonplace for ladies clothing. Many clothes were pinned together and a lady would have pins on her dressing table. They were also used for hats, corsage etc.  Toilet pin-cushions were advertised in newspapers, toilet pin cabinettes from 1895-1913 in 1839, and the pins themselves still advertised in 1952.

The Queenslander (Brisbane), 29th August 1896 page 413.

The Methodist (Sydney), 13th April 1912 page 12.

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A useful gadget

These were advertised from 1950 until 1954. Some shirts were sold ‘equipped’ with the device.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 5th February 1951 page 5.

The Sunday Herald (Sydney), 26th August 1951 page 10.

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Buttons in the News

The Journal (Adelaide), 2nd November 1918 page 15.

This was from a longer, tongue-in-cheek reply to the complaint of an American celebrity that women were not taking war time measures seriously.

The Telegraph (Brisbane), 15th May 1924 page 10. With clothes being passed through a mangle after washing, broken buttons were probably a common problem.

The Herald (Melbourne), 29th April 1926 page 6.

After their last day at work (as they had to still wear their uniform on the last day), they were meant to go home, cut off all their buttons, and take or post them to the store keeper in their own time/expense? No wonder this regulation was ‘not being satisfactorily observed’.

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New Finds

Embassy

I wonder who supplied the ‘matching cotton’ to G. Herring from 1949, and General Plastics from 1958?

Maxart

Although not branded, it is similar to a couple of examples of Maxart buttons. See http://www.austbuttonhistory.com/australian-button-history/ww2-and-onwards-including-leather-buttons-and-obscure-companies/maxart/

Titan

Titan was the branding used by  in New Zealand. G. Herring opened a factory there around 1956, but for some reason used different branding for a while, including Titan, Beauty Buttons and Vogue, before changing to Beutron. These may have been manufactured in New Zealand, or imported from Australia before the factory was established. See http://www.austbuttonhistory.com/new-zealand-button-history/#G_HerringBeutronAustralia

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