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I came across the above photo at Vintage Moth and it reminded me of the box full of buttons that my grandmother used to have, buttons of all colors, shapes and sizes. She kept her buttons in an empty cigar box of my grandfather's. How I wish I had that box of buttons now! I can remember the drawer it used to be in - the drawer also contained boxes of extra candidate "push cards" of my grandfather's from his campaigns for supervisor in Itawamba County -Did anyone else's grandmother keep a box of buttons? Does anyone have one now?
8 comments:
Well, Mona my box of buttons came from a most unusual place - they came from some European country, but I am not sure if it was Poland or some other country because this family were of different nationalities. One mother passed away and her household contents were being sold in 1956 and I needed an inexpensive (okay a cheap box!) toy box for the boys toys. I paid $5.00 for a beautiful cedar chest and inside was a most unusual sewing "basket". It wasn't what we consider a true basket because it was a little footed box with a handle and two little doors on top that opened out to reveal the entire contents. This "box" was filled with some of the most unusual buttons one can imagine - some still on the cards. All these buttons were before plastic! Some were carved bone or wood. I removed all the buttons so I could display this fancy little piece of something that I have never seen before or since. Oh, yes I still have all of the buttons secured in a couple of old chocolate boxes that are just as fancy as the little wooden container stored away in the old cedar chest - I must admit that we were afraid to use the chest for what we bought it for when we realized the age, and its journey because it has a label inside the lid that says Lane made it, in I believe New Jersey, where ever cedar trees were plentiful. . . there is a very low number on this label and since I am not into furniture evaluation, I haven't a clue what the age of the chest may be; I estimate it was prior to 1900. Who knows, the family may have purchased it in the East after arriving at Ellis Island and brought it across country to Northern Indiana in their travel to their new home. I never considered having someone look at our little peice of history to learn if there is any value. bettye
Mona, my grandmother had six little girls during the depression and so she did lots of sewing! She would remake dresses for the younger girls from the older one's clothes, as I'm sure many women of that time did. I know she had a button box, but I don't know who has it now. I have my mother's button box which was a round tin that probably was a cookie or cake container. And indeed it is precious to me! Thanks for the memory!!
My grandmother had a button box. My favorite one was a small, spherical, navy blue button with a rhinestone in the center.
Mona, My buttons are in an old blue Mason jar now. There are buttons that go back at least four generations. There are square buttons in it from the old shirt factory in Fulton along with a lot of really old buttons. My grand daughters love sorting them by sizes and colors.
The town I grew up in started life as a religious community back around 1901 and all the businesses were owned and run by the town. There was a cookie factory, a lace factory, a curtain factory, a shirt factory, etc. When my folks moved here in the 50s my mom worked at the shirt factory so consequently she had a pretty good sized tin, which formerly housed some hard candy, crammed full of buttons. Some are fancy, most are plain, a few are whimsical. I still have the tin and have used a button or two out of it. I hang on to it, mostly, for the sentimental value and the memories of my childhood that it brings back.
Laura Wallace's grandmother would be a person after my own mother's heart! Since I was 9 years older than my sister, I don't recall mother actually re-making any of my garments over for her; however, I had a beautiful plaid wool skirt with all around sewn down pleats to about 7 inches below the waist band. I dearly loved this skirt and it had begun to show "wear" and I do recall mother taking the skirt apart and reversing the hem since the under side appeared brighter and deeper in color. Her favorite re-cycle sewing involved my dad's suits. She would take the coat and pants apart (gently of course to be sure no snags were created while picking the stitches out) and she made pants for my brother and I recall at least a couple of suits she made for herself. Would "today's woman" living in our throw away society take that much time to conserve? I think not.
I would like to tell your "much younger readers" about World War II ways that they conserved - I'm speaking of elastic. A neighbor woman told this on herself when I was still a teenager. She had on a pair of the "gone to war panties". These undergarments were made minus elastic waistbands and had a buttoned placket to get them on and off. She was in San Francisco with her husband who drove a truck and had stopped for gas when she decided to go to the rest room. When she took that long step down toward the ground, that button popped off and her panties landed around her ankles and there she stood, trapped. She said she reached down, removed them and ran as fast as she could to get inside the station and of course, she had to ask for directions to the rest room among all the giggling men standing around. We have all had embarrassing moments, but I doubt many of us can top this one. bettye
I loved hearing about everyone's button box memories! Bettye, your undergarment button story is hard to top.
SO LOVELY !!!!! And here are other treasures from the button box: http://fashionableearth.org/blog/2009/11/06/button-box-treasures/
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