Button

“ For the button is apparently immortal. It has struck root deeply into human conservatism—more deeply, I am constrained to admit, than it has, generally speaking, into the textile fabrics with which it is commonly but somewhat precariously connected.
That the button is in some sense a benefaction is not lightly to be denied. In its unostentatious way, and when it stays on, it does a good deal for the comfort of mankind, as, the police permitting, one may readily convince himself by walking a few blocks without its artful aid. ”

“ How broadly the influence of the button world is felt you have had as yet, dear reader, but little indication. In matters great as the height and age of a child and in the relations which, physically, at any rate, he may bear to his father, buttons are most subtle indicators. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Being late on parade, a dirty button—that is, a button not sufficiently brilliant in its polish—the need of a shave, a hasty word to one in authority, and half a hundred other apparent trivialities, form grounds for “wheeling a man up” or “running him in.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 he does this, he says: "Hold fast to what I give you." He is careful not to let the players see into whose hands he passed the button. The circuit having been made, the leader says to the first player: "Button, button, who has the button?" The one questioned must answer, naming some one whom he thinks has it. So it continues until all have had a turn at answering the same question. Then the leader says: "Button, button, rise!" The button holder must do this.
FRENCH RHYMES Each member of the company writes upon a slip of paper two words that rhyme. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ This can be simply made by threading a large button on a string, so that when the ends are knotted together it makes a loop about twelve to fifteen inches long. Keeping the button in the middle of the doubled length of string insert the first and second fingers of each hand into the looped ends, and rapidly whirl the button round till the string gets a considerable twist on it. Now by alternately slacking and tightening the [81] string the button will whizz round with a slight humming noise. If a piece of tin with notched edges (as in Figure 51 of a windmill) is used, it will hum very loud. ”

“ Boules and the button-game, where buttons are thrown toward a hole scooped out in the ground next a wall or a fence, in much the same manner that American boys and girls play marbles, are favourite games with Scotch children. Various sorts of buttons are used, each sort having a different value. A button from a soldier's coat is worth ten times as much as an ordinary button, and a coloured button more than a plain white one. So you see that loose buttons are very valuable property with a Scotch boy. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ In old times, a ring or a button would be tied by a boy to one end of a long piece of thread, which he would then hold at the other end, letting the button hang within a glass, or over a piece of slate-pencil, or sealing-wax, or a nail ”

“ 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. ”

“ Although I have become more teasing and agreeable, he says no more to me about the matter, and cannot make up his mind to try a new direct attack,—not even the classic device of a button to be sewed on a pair of pantaloons. A clumsy device, but one that does not often fail of its effect. ”

“ My instructor said:—"No doubt you understand all about these lines of force, seeing that you are a friend of the Recorder. Well, if you press the top button on the left hand globe you will go to the left; and if you press the top button on the right hand ball you will go to the right, at the angles of the lines of force in whatever altitude you may be in. If you wish to steer a mid-course, then press both buttons in both balls equally, and you can deviate your course, more or less, from one side to the other by more or less pressing the buttons. ”

“ Thus a button is produced at an extraordinary economical rate, and with marvellous ease, which, while comparing the facility of its origin to that of the porcelain, possesses the superlative qualities of being comparable with one made with the properties and strength of iron or other metal, and in imitation of bronze, ivory, cameo, and is, indeed, a substitute for any other, and the very best material or thing ever used for button making. ”

“ Fig. 122.—Diagram showing how to connect a Bell, Battery, and Push-Button. A little experimenting with the bell will soon enable one to find its best adjustment. Figure 122 shows how to connect a bell to a battery and a push-button. A push-button is simply a small switch which closes the circuit when pressed. Do not make the armature spring too weak, or the hammer will move very slowly and with very little life. Each time that the armature moves toward the magnets, it should barely touch the iron cores before the ball strikes the bell. ”

“ I've known a man say, 'Which way shall I go to-day?' Having no earthly idea which way to take, he tosses up a button. If the button comes down on one side he treks east; if on the other, he treks west. ”

“ By this last is meant such attention to evenness of contour from the button along to the edging of the shell, as shall be strong enough without looking heavy or clumsy; much of the nice appearance of this portion of the work depends upon the neatness of the workman. Assuming the button to be of the normal standard, or we may say, well calculated with regard to size for good effect—a good average width of this at the base where the curved line springs from the border is thirteen-sixteenths, and the projection forward—as it is not a geometrical curve—a half an inch. ”

“ I said "button, button, button," plain enough, I'm sure; and a button's a button all the world over. If it had not been for that excellent Susan, the English chambermaid, I should have perished in this place, of what the coroner's inquests call "want of the necessaries of life." All depends, as every one knows, on a man's shirt-button: if that goes wrong, everything goes, and one's attire is a wreck. But I suppose after to-day my wife will see to that,—though she is a Montmorenci. Constance de Montmorenci, that's her name: she's descended (she says) from a Constable of France. ”

“ TO PULL A STRING THROUGH A BUTTON-HOLE. Tie together the ends of a piece of string about two feet long; pass it thus tied through a button-hole of your coat. Hitch the two ends on your thumbs, and catch up with each little finger the upper string on the thumb of the opposite hand; then, stretching the hands apart, the string will appear in a very complicated tangle. If the hold of the right thumb and left little finger, or vice versâ, be then loosed, and the hands quickly separated, the string will come away from, and appear as if it had passed through, the outside edge of the button-hole. ”

“ They buy a neat little box with a button, which they believe, when touched, will cause a picture to be taken of whatever may be before the little box at the time, no matter where, what the light, or how rapidly the picture may be moving. ”

“ As each button is brought into its correct position, it should be tightened down a little so that it will be located firmly when finally set. The work is then strapped to the faceplate of a lathe and each button is indicated for boring the different holes by means of an indicator, as previously described. When the buttons are removed it will be found that in nearly all cases the [Pg 6] small screw holes will not run exactly true; therefore, it is advisable to form a true starting point for the drill by using a lathe tool.
Fig. 3. Testing Location of Buttons
Fig. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If the speed is open, if the color is careless, if the selection of a strong scent is not awkward, if the button holder is held by all the waving color and there is no color, not any color. If there is no dirt in a pin and there can be none scarcely, if there is not then the place is the same as up standing.
This is no dark custom and it even is not acted in any such a way that a restraint is not spread. That is spread, it shuts and it lifts and awkwardly not awkwardly the centre is in standing. ”

“ The index-hands of the two apparatus thereupon begin their movement simultaneously, and only stop when the pressure is removed from the button and the current is consequently interrupted. H is a ratchet-wheel, which, like the key-board, is insulated from the rest of the apparatus. The button, K, located over each of the dials, serves to bring the index-needles back to their position under the cross shown in Fig. 12. The key, X, serves for winding up the clock-work movement. ”

“ Button-holes! there is something lively in the very idea of 'em—and trust me, when I get amongst 'em—You gentry with great beards—look as grave as you will—I'll make merry work with my button-holes—I shall have 'em all to myself—'tis a maiden subject—I shall run foul of no man's wisdom or fine sayings in it. ”