Antique/Vintage Buttons (all photos and text © Maureen Janson 2013)

Welcome!  I realize that I enjoy looking at photos of buttons almost as much as looking at the real thing!  So thought I'd share some photos of my collection.  In this case, I no longer have most of these buttons, as I have sold them, or am in the process of doing so.  I'll be adding historical information about them as I find it.  And will be posting photos of more ornate buttons that I have chosen to keep.  Take a look and enjoy!! 

Goodyear Rubber Buttons, with a neat
tread pattern on the top!  The large one (more than an inch and a half in diameter)  was found in a 10-cent poke box!

Here are the backsides of the rubber buttons:  Goodyear 1851, IRC Co.  (India Rubber Company)

I love this little group--the blend of colors, styles and compositions is truly unique!    These are primarily celluloid.  The large red and black on one the left is a "bubble" top, measuring about 1 and 3/4 inch in diameter.  The floral carved black one in the top row is a composition of some sort.  

Here are the backs of the above buttons.  The burgandy one at the bottom may be casein or some plastic other than celluloid.  Love the lime green discs!!

This neat little group is vintage early plastic.  They measure about a half inch in diameter and probably were manufactured in the 1950s sometime.  Adorable!

Here's another view of the sweet brown plastic buttons.  This shows the size pretty well, and the shank.

Here's a partial card with four more early plastic brown flower-shaped buttons.  I have reason to believe that these are little older than the ones above and are made of a plastic that had to be carved or cut, rather than molded.  

Here's a close up of these adorable brown flower buttons!   I f you look closely, you can see that the edges of the flower has been carved or cut.

This is a sweet trio of antique wooden buttons.    The shapes, colors and carvings are really fun!  The hexagonal one is about an inch and 1/2 in diameter.  The square one is particularly unique.

Never figured out what these are made of!  Wood?  Bone?  Some sort of natural material for sure, but your guess is as good as mine.  Know what these mystery buttons are made of?  Comment below and let me know!

Small, smooth black glass, metal shank.  Diminutive black faceted button in the middle.

Gorgeous metal button.  Maybe a brass base, with  some sort of color (don't think it's enamel).  I believe this may be a military button of some sort, but it's also just really pretty!

Mix of early plastics and a few metals, compositions, and china buttons.

Small group of early plastics.  Not so interesting to me, so I sold these right away...

Some sweet celluloid buttons!  The square one on the left has extruded celluloid "noodles" and the one on the right (is it really lucite?  the shank looks celluloid) has multi-colored rhinestone studs around the edge.  So fun!  Why don't they make 'em like this anymore?

This is a vegetable ivory button with the pattern of a marijuana leaf  embossed on it.  (It may be some other kind of leaf....)  It's about 3/4 inch in diameter.

Here's the shank of the infamous marijuana leaf button.

This group is a variety--the little pink one on the upper left is dyed mother of pearl, and next to it is a triangular metal rhinestone button.  The little scottie dog is plastic, and the red one is casein or celluloid.

Large plastic and rhinestone button--vintage.

Love the colors and textures of vegetable ivory buttons!  I just like looking at piles of them...This lot is absolutely gorgeous.

This lovely victorian era metal button has a raised filigree flour de lis pattern surrounding a cut steel flower.  It's about an inch in diameter--stunning!!

Here's big pile of junky old buttons.   Some are probably really old!  One person's junk is another's treasure, right?  Fabric, metal, work, bone, composition and more.  These were all at the bottom of a one-gallon ice cream tub that I bought at a yard sale for $5.  The tub was loaded with other stuff, which I'll show later.

One of my favorite groups of buttons.  I put these on the card myself, after purchasing at at yard sale.  Most of them are glass and crystal, but there is one metal and a vertical row of carved mother of pearl on the left.  In the future, i will feature close-ups of each of these special buttons.  In the sunlight, they are amazing!

Various old plastics.  Similar, but different.

I really like these (well, yes, I like old buttons in general...) they are made of paper, wood, and bone, all natural!  There is one leather one with the metal shank showing.  Imagine where these have been!

Simple, elegant, vegetable ivory.

A bunch of old partial button cards: celluloid, wood, leather, metal, plastic and possible even bakelite.  Love the old card designs, and look at the prices!

Close-up of celluloid buttons.  Complete card, probably from the 1950s.

Look closely and you see these buttons have a little swirl pattern to them.  And I love the graphic design of the card complete with dripping icicles!

Close-up of partial card.  Note the interesting texture on these.  Not sure what they are made of, but some sort of early plastic.

And one more close-up from the group above.  Pretty pink plastic.  And 10 cents!!!  Can't buy anything for 10 cents any more....

Three mother of pearl button cards.  The photo does not do these justice!  The ones on the right are deep "smokies" and the sew-through holes are on one end of the button rather than the center.  I've not seen many that are like that.  The ones on the left are some of the shiniest I've seen, and the middle ones--well, I just love the card.  Wish I had the whole thing!

This is a collection of eight small silver buttons.  They are metal-coated, and I am not skilled enough to determine what is underneath the metal.  From what I have read, it's most likely plastic, but could also be some other thing, like bakelite.

Different view of the same silver-coated buttons.

Sweet little composition buttons!  To me, it's really fun to see these close up.   They are tiny so not easy to see the detail unless in an enlarged photo like this.

Really pretty mother of pearl mix.  A few smokies, a few carved, and a few with whistle-style shanks (one hole on top, two holes on the bottom).  This is another group that looks sensational in sunlight!

This is one of the neatest celluloid buttons I have seen.  It's a little fruit basket with rhinestone studs embedded into the "fruit".  I know that this is celluloid because someone performed the hot needle test on the back of this one, and burned a small hole near the shank.  From what I have read, the hot needle test is used to determine if the button is made of bakelite or celluloid.  If you touch the back with a heated needle, if the button is bakelite, it will leave no mark.  If the button is some other plastic, the hot needle will melt the plastic.  I don't use this test personally, but have come across some celluloid buttons that have obviously been tested.  Apparently that test (melting a tiny spec on the back of the button) slightly reduced their value.

In this case, the hot needle test has not altered the cuteness or function of this button!

One more view of this adorable button.  About an inch in diameter at the widest, and a little more in height.

Here's a nice metal "twinkle" button.  Probably from the victorian era.  This photo does not show it, but the button has cut out paisley patterns that have a mirror-like metal exposed underneath them.  So at different angles, this button really sparkles!  This particular pattern seems to be fairly common.

Here's the back side of the twinkle button.

These two tinted metal picture buttons are definitely from the early 1900s.  Probably made in Paris.  The blue one has blackened metal flowers and pie crust edges, and the brown one has lovely copper-colored cornucopia and edges.

Here's another view of the same.  I originally found these at a yard sale and got a hold of two cards worth!

No backmarks here, but this is what the shanks look like on the metal buttons above.

Here's a mixed pile of buttons!  I think there are even a few new ones here....  Along the lower row from left to right is: black glass with flower patter, large black (heavy!) composition, wood tube painted white, brass tube, plastic heart with golden plastic edges, another composition, plastic military button, yellow bakelite, and brass.

Here are the U.S. military ones up close.  They are of molded plastic.  I'm not sure how old they are.  I believe the smaller one on the right is a navy button. 

Close-up of the black glass with silver painted/etched flowers.  A little chip on top, but still very nice!

Matching pair of small victorian picture buttons.  These two are not in the best of condition, but still pretty!

Another view of the pair.

Vintage plastic pierced (holes in it) sailboat button.  I bought a whole bag of these at an antique store in Landskrona, Sweden.  

The sailboats measure a little over 3/4 inch in diameter.  

Here's a bunch of metals, some military, and some decorative.  I believe these are not as old as the victorian ones.  Most of them are lightweight thin, hollow metals.  Probably made in the 1940s and 50s.  I also sold this group right after I got them as part of a larger lot.  They are neat, but not my favorites...

More terrific mother of pearls!!  This bunch has a couple that are dyed--red and blue.  Usually the back sides of these are just as pretty as the fronts.

I think the blue and purple buttons are celluloid, and the red ones are casein.  They could be bakelite, but they have evidence of a seam (being poured into a mold) on the back, rather than being cut like celluloid or bakelite--which have no seams.

Four different celluloid wafer buttons.  One of the first antique/vintage buttons I ever saw was a celluloid wafer.  I've been hooked on buttons ever since.  This group is rather plain, but I love the carved designs in them.  The largest one here is nearly two inches in diameter.

Backs of the celluloid wafers.

Remember the tinted victorian metal picture buttons above?  Here are more of the same (from the same yard sale) on the original card.  The Nouveaute word on the cars makes me believe these are French.  Also looks to me like about 24 buttons came on one card.  

Close-up of these gorgeous exotic French buttons!!

Pair of brass US military buttons.  There are lots of these around.  This pair (currently for sale on ebay) sure is shiny!

Buttons are always more desirable and a bit more valuable if they happen to have a back mark.  Like the Goodyear rubber buttons above, these also have a back mark:  Waterbury Button Co. Conn.  The Waterbury company is apparently still manufacturing buttons, and they have been since 1812!  Hard to know exactly how old this pair is.

Pair of lightweight metal buttons.  The design is a replica of a 1950s British coin, showing the young profile of Elizabeth the II.  These coins (not the buttons necessarily) were first minted in 1952, and are still manufactured as half crown.  So the buttons were probably made in the 60s or 70s, perhaps even more recently.

The back side of the Elizabeth II buttons.  Pretty plain  and with a contemporary shank.

Wow!  Terrific carved vegetable ivory buttons.  The bigger one is about an inch in diameter.      The earliest buttons made of this natural tagua nut were in the 1870s.  So these could be that old.  Vegetable ivory is still used to make buttons once in a while, but I have never seen newer ones with gorgeous carvings like these!

Vegetable ivory beauty!

A little blurry, but this is what's called a celluloid "tight top".  The dome is thin celluloid, and it sits like a cap on a metal backing with shank.  In this case the button is hand painted, a lovely two-toned green.

Back side of the "tight top" design. Note that the celluloid wraps around the edges of the backing.

Fire engine red!  Retro pierced plastic flower button.  About and inch and 1/4 diameter.  Can't imagine what article of clothing this might have been on in the 40s or 50s...

Back side of plastic button. Not exactly certain of the plastic type as this one shows no seams and appears to be carved. 

Large bubble tight top celluloid.  You can see how fragile the tight top/bubble design is.  The celluloid is so thin that this one has a few cracks in it, probably from pressure to the top of the button.  This one might have been on a coat or something that requires big buttons.

Back side of the red and black tight top.

Here's a beautiful button of mixed media.  The base is an early plastic, black with silver painted "rope" trim.  The center is a perfect iridescent mother of pearl!

Back side of the above.

1950s pierced plastic pair.  Terrific flower design, wonderful bright color.  Love these!!

And another view, showing the shank side.
Thanks for looking!!