Collecting
Buttons are remarkable. Far from just being utilitarian clothing closures, buttons can provoke "oohs" and "aahs." They reflect fashion, history, culture, and technology. Surprising numbers of buttons are miniature works of art.
If you would like to learn more about buttons and button collecting, there are regional, state, national, and international organizations to help you do so. The Wikipedia article on Button collecting is also being expanded to be helpful to new collectors.
"Educating, enjoying, and preserving all that is beautiful and historic in buttons."
"For members of button clubs and button collectors in New York State." The 2024 annual show will be held April 26-28 in Binghamton, NY.
Northeast Regional Button Association. (NERBA)
"The member states of the Association are Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York. Any collector can become a member of the Association and receive semi-annual newsletters simply by enrolling as a member of one of the Association’s states." The annual show will be held June 13-16 in Milford, MA.
It has over 200 members in 13 countries. They make available a button identification service, for which there is a charge for non-members.
Site of the Month
Every two months, we will feature an interesting button-related site. We will also keep a list of earlier sites so you can continue to refer to the ones that interest you.
April/May 2024
Button Museum at the Henry B. Plant Museum in Tampa, Florida. A virtual tour of the collection.
February/March 2024
Fancy Victorian Buttons: Know the Types of Old Buttons so You Can Sell Them by Annie.
This YouTube video delves into Black Glass and Metal buttons.
December 2023/January 2024
Buttons Paradise in Paris has a blog with lots of fascinating information about buttons and how they are used. The selection linked here all focus on couture jewelry buttons.
October/November 2023
Button Displays Memorializing Holocaust Victims
While the next Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) will fall in May 2024, the sites for this 2-month period are button memorials for Holocaust victims located in disparate parts of the world.
Chabad of Bakersfield (Bakersfield, California)
Members of the Half Moon Button Club donated buttons to this memorial.
6 Million +: The Button Memorial (Yorkshire, England)
Peoria Riverfront Musem Memorial (Peoria, Illinois)
Children's Holocaust Memorial (Wellington, New Zealand)
August/September 2023
Western Regional Button Association Learning Resources
WRBA offers a variety of valuable resources on this page, including lists of button books arranged in several ways, the ability to search and view the contents of their archived newsletters, and many button worksheets. There is also a marvelous compendium of buttons that mimic fabrics and a visual reference to Bethlehem Pearl buttons, and more. While some items are limited to member-only access, a great deal of this content is available to everyone.
June/July 2023
Keep Homestead Museum Button Collection
The Keep Homestead Museum in Monson, MA has a unique, wide-ranging collection of buttons. Check their website to determine if the Museum is open for the season, when their hours are typically the first Sunday of each month from 1-3:30. "Visitors are also welcome by appointment from early April to December by calling 413-267-4137."
April/May 2023
National Button Society Resources Page
This is just one page from the National Button Society's site. It provides links on a variety of topics, including caring for buttons, bibliographies of button books organized by topic and by author, and creating using buttons.
February/March 2023
Button, Button, We've Got the Button(s)! Celebrating the Cooper Hewitt button collection
An entry in the Cooper Hewitt Short Stories series, published in November 2017.
December 2022/January 2023
Identifying Rare and Valuable Antique Buttons by Kate Miller-Wilson
This site provides a well-illustrated overview of traits you will find in antique buttons.
October/November 2022
How to Keep Old Clothing Buttons as Collectibles by Pamela Wiggins
This is a good introduction to finding and collecting buttons. From The Spruce Crafts site.