Glass buttons (2024)

FAQs

How can you tell if a button is glass? ›

If in doubt check the back. If the button has a metal shank or post it is glass. The metal was inserted into the glass button while still hot. Metal shanks can also be used to date the button.

Glass buttons began to be produced in mass after the start of the industrial revolution in the 1850s. Black was the favorite color in the 19th century. There was a great demand for ornaments of jet. As stated earlier, the popularity of Jet happened twice: Once from Page 3 1800 to 1820 and then from 1850 to 1870.

The earliest object that may have been a button—what archeologists call a perforated shell disc—could have been used as a button or pendant. Dated to about 7000 bce, it was excavated from a burial site at Mehrgarh in the Indus Valley in present-day Pakistan. Drilled with a hole, it could have been sewn onto clothing.

Many think that button covers are relatively modern, emerging in the mid-1900s along with dress clips and shoe ornaments, and faded from popularity by the 1990s.

Antique buttons are highly collectible and can be quite valuable. Many factors affect the value of a button, including age, rarity, condition, and type of material. Buttons made of rare or unusual materials, such as ivory, shell, or coral, can fetch high prices at auction.

They date from the late 1800s through the early 1900s. For a while glass buttons were very cheap. After World War II a group of Germans took an old factory and started making very reasonably priced glass buttons which they sent to America.

Check the buttons

The type of buttons used are a big giveaway of the age of the clothing. Typically, buttons are made from three types of plastics - bakelite plastic, lucite plastic, or modern plastic. The bakelite plastic was created in 1909 and has been used predominantly in clothes from the 1930s-1940s.

An acrylic plastic, called lucite, was developed during the 2nd World War as a material for airplane parts because of its strength and transparency. These properties also made lucite a popular material for button and accessories manufacture, and it was particularly popular in the 1940s and 1950s.

In medieval Europe, garments were laced together or fastened with brooches or clasps and points, until buttonholes were invented in the 13th century. Then buttons became so prominent that in some places sumptuary laws were passed putting limits on their use.

China buttons or "small chinas," glass-like ceramic buttons, are one of the most often misidentified artifacts in 19th and 20th century sites. These buttons, manufactured by the Prosser process, date after 1840.

What is a fun fact about buttons? ›

Fun Facts. ...the word button is from the French word bouton, meaning bud or knob - buttons, as ornaments, date back several thousand years. ... until the introduction of the "button hole", buttons were generally ornamental.

Identifiers, such as embossed markings, can be found on the side. When trying to date your glassware you can look on the bottom for Pontil marks or Mold lines as those will help you determine whether the glass was hand-blown or manufactured.

Wood - You should be able to see the wood grain on the button, and they should feel relatively lightweight. Metal - On top of being a cheap material to make buttons out of, it can also be stamped with details and wrapped around a button's base. Glass - Glass will clink when you gently tap it on a hard surface.

Look at the back of the button if there is evidence of the shell or inconsistent coloring this is likely a pearl button plastics are much more consistent in their color and texture. If a button is cool to touch at room temperature it is likely a pearl button.

Celluloid: Celluloid was the first plastic on the market, and it was used to make everything under the sun. Toys, brushes, jewelry, and of course, buttons. It's a very light material, and you can see right through most pure celluloid objects if you hold them to the light.