Buttons

“ While to neglect buttons is most reprehensible, there is such a thing as showing them too much indulgence. For buttons must not be coddled: when toyed with, they droop.
Tender-hearted women, actuated by sympathy and not realizing the consequences of what they were doing, have been known to pamper buttons. Because a button has a pleasant, open countenance, one of these misguided persons will support it on her costume in idleness. She may even surround herself with a retinue of glittering sycophants that never knew a buttonhole—great saucerlike hangers-on, lolling on their stems ”

“ On the right hand of the gentleman is a packet of buttoncards, and here may be seen fancy trimming buttons of almost every description—melons, acorns, apples, pears, show their tiny counter parts in silk and twist, and the simple flat buttons are embroidered so delicately and tastefully that we almost doubt the truth of the assertion, that these beautiful little ornaments are the invention as well as the handiwork of poor, uneducated women, whose hands are hardened by daily toil, and their minds disturbed by anxious cares. ”

“ Buttons are not always stamped so carefully as they ought to be:—caution your Button Maker, that you will not take any impressions that are imperfect: you may be charged a trifle more per Dozen, if you will have every Button as perfect as the Proof Specimen. ”

“ He woke up and lay awake thinking of the brightness a little dulled and wondering how he would feel if perhaps when the great occasion (whatever it might be) should arrive, one button should chance to be ever so little short of its first glittering freshness, and for days and days that thought remained with him, distressingly. And when next his mother let him wear his suit, he was tempted and nearly gave way to the temptation just to fumble off one little bit of tissue paper and see if indeed the buttons were keeping as bright as ever. ”

“ Why, if once in your life a button's off your shirt—what do you cry "oh" at? I say once, Mr. Caudle; or twice, or three times, at most. I'm sure, Caudle, no man's buttons in the world are better looked after than yours. ”

“ Although, as in previous papers, I have conducted my readers in paths not usual to girls and young women, I hope that my description of button-making will interest a considerable number, and teach them to think more of buttons and how they are made and by whom made than they have ever done before. ”

“ But deliberately vicious buttons are rare. The fact is, few buttons would go to the bad, were it not for the heartless indifference of their owners. Too often a headstrong young button, that might easily have been saved had it been brought up short the moment it showed signs of looseness, is allowed to reach the end of its rope, fall, and be utterly lost. ”

“ As for buttons, she soon learned to wonder where they went, to shake her head over the carelessness of men, and to threaten to make him sew them on himself, and see if his work would stand impatient and clumsy fingers any better than hers. ”

“ The high crown and wide, gracefully rolling brim counter-balance the weight and prominence of the jaw.
Apropos of the minor details of man's garments, the button as a feature of clothes has never been fully done justice to. It is a sustaining thing we know, something we can hang to, fasten to, and even tie to. That properly placed buttons contribute to our mental poise and therefore to our physical repose, is hinted in that absurdly engaging story, anent the smart boy who was the envy of his spelling-class, because he always stood first. ”

“ Many a household manufactured its own buttons. They were made of cloth cut round, and of as many ply as was necessary for firmness. Thick, heavy button-hole stitches were worked all around the edge with thread coarser than the cloth of which the button was made, and when these were stitched on firmly there was no worry about the washerwoman’s breaking or washing them off. ”

“ While men might count a score:
Then spake he to Tigerius,
A Buttons bold was he:
“Buttons, I think there’s thieves about;
Just strike a light and tumble out;
If you can’t find one, go without,
And see what you may see.” ”

“ We all sub-consciously acknowledge our dependence upon buttons, but not many of us, evidently, have observed that even buttons have a certain possibility of caricature in them; and that they may add to, or detract from, the appearance of manly forms. The consideration of properly placed buttons may seem trivial to you, but if you will observe sketches Nos. 79 and 80, you may discern that a thin man may apparently increase his breadth and add a certain manly touch to his figure, by changing the buttons at the waist-line of his coat. The buttons placed so near together, in No. ”

“ In this case, the center button was first located correctly from the sides and end and then the other buttons were set. When doing precision work of this kind, the degree of accuracy obtained will depend upon the instruments used, the judgment and skill of the workman, and the care exercised. A good general rule to follow when locating bushings or buttons is to use the method which is the most direct and which requires the least number of measurements, in order to prevent an accumulation of errors. ”

“ First lay out the centers of all holes to be bored, by the usual method. Mark these centers with a prick-punch and then drill holes for the machine screws which are used to clamp the buttons. After the buttons are clamped lightly in place, set them in correct relation with each other and with the jig-plate. The proper location of the buttons is very important, as their positions largely determine the accuracy of the work. The best method of locating a number of buttons depends, to some extent, upon their relative positions, the instruments available, and the accuracy required. ”

“ In an old play a man threatens a country lad, “I’ll make your buttons fly.” The lad replies, “All my buttons is loops.” Some garments, especially leather ones, like doublets, which were cumbersome to button, were secured by loops. For instance, in spatterdashes, a row of holes was set on one side, and of loops on the other. To fasten them, one must begin at the lower loop, pass this through the first hole, then put the second loop through that first loop and the second hole, and so on till the last loop was fastened to the breeches by buckle and strap or large single button. ”

“ No. 144.
Buttons.
Buttons are in extensive use in the sports of German children, with whom they form a sort of coinage, each sort having a stipulated exchangeable value. Traces of similar usage exist in the United States.
A common New York game consists in throwing buttons. A line is drawn, and a hole made about twelve feet off. The players toss their buttons, and whoever comes nearest the hole has the first shot. He endeavors to drive the buttons of the rest into the hole, striking them with the extended thumb by a movement of the whole hand, which is kept flat and stiff. ”

“ At one time I counted eight ladies standing on my feet instead of on their own; and while I lost all eight buttons off my vest, and six from various parts of my [Pg 48] coat, when I got home last night I found enough gilt buttons, crocheted buttons, bone buttons, filagree buttons, and other assorted feminine buttons, inside my pockets to fill an innovation trunk. And talk about massages! I was rubbed this way, and scourged that way, and jack-planed the other way, until I began to fear I was about to be erased altogether. ”

“ Buttons for our dresses were our next consideration, and we had quite a debate on this weighty subject, as our substitutes for buttons and material for making them were many and varied. It was something bewildering for us to determine finally what sort of buttons we should adopt.
Rude machines were devised for making buttons of wood as the war went on, and we were thrown more and more upon our own resources. The buttons made of wood were of various sizes, and were strong and lasting for heavy goods, especially the clothing for the slaves. ”

“ Locating Holes
The accuracy of work done by the button method previously described is limited only by the skill and painstaking care of the workman, but setting the buttons requires a great deal of time. By a little modification, using what is sometimes called the “disk-and-button method,” a large part of this time can be saved without any sacrifice of accuracy. The disk-and-button method is extensively used in many shops. Buttons are used, but they are located in the centers of disks of whatever diameters are necessary to give the required locations. ”

“ I've made you a new set of warm night-gowns with four button-holes in each. See if they are not neatly done,” said Rose, one day, some weeks after the new lessons began.
“Even to a thread, and nice little bars across the end so I can't tear them when I twitch the buttons out. ”

“ There is as good material in this Territory for making hats as there is in any part of the world, and we have the mechanics who can put it together. We have an excellent button machine, one capable of producing as good buttons as these I now wear in the bosom of my shirt. There are tons of bones and horns bleaching upon the prairie, which can be manufactured into as good buttons as any man need to wear, if some of our button-makers would take hold of the machine and work it. We also have men here who can make pressed buttons which will do very well. ”

“ ROUND THE JAM-POT, are really duty-games, of which I must tell you later on.
And if you have no caps, which you sometimes haven’t, you must just find something else to play with. [Pg 12] Buttons, for instance—everybody knows the old game of BUTTONS (or BANG-OUT, or BANGINGS) where you pitch them against a wall and have to measure the intervals between them with the span of your fingers and always end up with a row about cheating distances. You can make a fine gamble out of BUTTONS if you play the same game with halfpennies; you can win quite a lot, when there are no coppers about.... ”

“ The other side is provided with loops to fasten to corresponding buttons on the other leg, and by bending on my knees I can easily pull the dark cloth over my head and back, fasten the loops to the buttons, and then I can perfectly perform any manipulation required, without the risk of any ray of white light entering; and certainly nothing can be more portable. ”

“ "I see you're looking at my cuff buttons."
I hadn't been looking at them, but I did now. ”

“ The door in the rear flies open and through the doorway is seen a sunlit field planted with rye ready for the harvest. Among the yellow ears grow bachelor's-buttons and daisies.
PLAYMATE. Come, children! Come into the sunlight and feel the joy of living!
THYRA. Can't we take the sun-spot along? It's a pity to leave it here in the darkness. ”

“ When buttons must be located at [Pg 4] given distances from the finished sides of a jig, a surface plate and vernier height gage are often used. The method is to place that side from which the button is to be set, upon an accurate surface plate and then set the button by means of the height gage, allowance being made, of course, for the radius of the button. The center-to-center distance between the different buttons can afterwards be verified by taking direct measurements with a micrometer.
Fig. 1. Simple Example of Work Illustrating Application of Button Method
Figs. ”

“ We have grown so familiar with some old doubled blossoms that we think little of their being double. One such, symmetrical of growth, beautiful of foliage, and gratifying of bloom, is the Double Buttercup. It is to me distinctly one of our most old-fashioned flowers in aspect. A hardy great clump of many years' growth is one of the ancient treasures of our garden; its golden globes are known in England as Bachelor's Buttons, and are believed by many to be the Bachelor's Buttons of Shakespeare's day. ”

“ The mechanical manufacture of covered buttons was started in the United States in 1827 by Samuel Williston, of Easthampton, Mass., who in 1834 joined forces with Joel and Josiah Hayden, of Haydenville.
The number of materials that have been used for making buttons is very large—metals such as brass and iron for the cheaper kinds, and for more expensive ones, gold and silver, sometimes ornamented with jewels, filigree work, &c.; ivory, horn, bone and mother-of-pearl or other nacreous products of shell-fish; vegetable ivory and wood ”

“ They collect buttons the same way, for games like BUTTONS IN THE RING; only the buttons must be of metal, of brass or steel; they must ring like money when you throw them on the pavement: that’s the test. All other buttons are simply “toot”—not worth talking about. The best metal buttons are commissionaires’ buttons; they’re called “raileys”, and a good railey is worth four or even six ordinary metal ones, while a bad one (with a loose shank, for instance) will fetch only two. Many boys are able to stitch themselves full of these buttons, for use in games ”

“ METHODS OF SEWING ON BUTTONS are shown in Illustration 237. Always use a coarse single thread in preference to a fine double one. In placing buttons in position, lap the edges of the garment, and push a pin through at the outer end of the buttonhole. This will bring the button exactly opposite the buttonhole. Make a knot in the thread, push the needle through from the right side so that the knot will be directly under the button. ”

“ Fie upon you!—collar buttons—but tread softly,—we will not embark there. One exception only to this indifference do I know—the comfort of sitting in an easy-chair and unbuttoning a tight vest. This sensation is [212] the most agreeable immediately after a large meal—say, an over-large meal. And however gross the indulgence, it causes buttons again to swim into my ken—this time on the side of mine enemies;—and as great ones indeed do they loom over me when I, by yielding to the order of unbuttoned vests, am constrained to think—
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