The Probert Encyclopaedia of Costume

BUTTON

A button is a small knob or disc used as a fastening, being sewn to one material and passed through a hole in another so as to fasten the two together. Buttons are of almost all forms and materials - wood, horn, bone, ivory, steel, copper, silver, brass, plastic etc - which are either left naked or covered with silk or some other material. The material of buttons has varied much with times and fashions. In the 19th century century gilt, brass, or copper buttons were almost universal. Birmingham was for many years the great seat of button manufacture.

The introduction of cloth-covered buttons early in the 20th century made a great revolution in the trade, and led to great varieties in the style of making up. The metal buttons used around 1900 were commonly made of brass or a mixture of tin and brass. They were usually made from sheets of metal by punching and stamping. Such buttons were generally used for trousers. A substance commonly used around 1900 for buttons was vegetable ivory (seeds of the ivory-nut palm), which could be coloured according to taste. Mother-of-pearl buttons were another common kind. Around 1900 the making of porcelain buttons developed into a remarkable industry. These buttons were both strong and cheap. Besides these kinds there were also glass buttons, made by softening the glass by heat and pressing it into a mould; buttons of vulcanite, marble, and many other materials; but these were fancy articles in the trade. After the Second World War most common British buttons were made of plastics.
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