BUTTON BUTTON

Flea markets, antique shops, your grandmother's sewing box, the clothes at the thrift shop, the street markets, garages sales.  Buttons are everywhere!

Will you know which are worth keeping?  Can you tell if the buttons on a vintage dress are worth many times the price of the dress?  Should you ignore that jar of old buttons at teh auction?  Buttons were the hottest collectible of the 1990's and still just as popular today.  Practical help for the new collector is difficult to come by.  Here are a few questions you might have.

What's it made from? Is it old?  What's it worth?

Not all old buttons are collectible, and not all collectible buttons are old. And, in the button world, old is relative:  to some collectors, old is 18th century, while others think that old is 1940.  There are buttons for both.

Buttons are addictive.  You can become totally immersed in them.  For me, they've been a journey throughout the world, an excusion into history, and an art appreciation course.  Buttons can lead to a study of almost any subject you can think of.  Some people collect only buttons that relate to their other interest; paperweight collectors collect tiny paperweight buttons, golfers collect golfing designs; dog lovers collect dog buttons.  Then there are those, like me, who collect them all.

The best sources for old buttons are the numerous button dealers throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.  There are even specialized shops that carry nothing but buttons, old and new, in Chicago, New York, London and Paris.

Other sources are general antique shops and flea markets.  Most antique dealers fall into one of two categories:  those who know about button collectiong, but nothing about prices (and so, afraid of being "taken", charge way more than a button dealer would) and those who know absolutely nothing about button collecting (and wonder why you have no interest in buying their quart jar of junk buttons for $5.00). Still, you can get lucky, so by all means, do look for buttons at markets and shows.

Don't overlook neighbors, relatives, and friends with old family button boxes.  Until this generation, every home had one.  Some will contain surprisingly good buttons.  The recycling of buttons was far more prevalent in days gone by than may be realized.

Enjoy your buttons, whether you collect them seriously, just for fun, or just to wear.  Many non-collectors are now buying decorative or thematic buttons to sew onto clothes, hats, vests and so forth.

To the would-be collector just starting out, I wish you the joy and friendships that buttoning can bring, and the hope that you never lose sight of what drew you to buttons in the first place--the workmanship, regardless of relative value or rarity, the incredible detail, and the amazing artistry and balance achieved on so small a canvas.

HAPPY BUTTON HUNTING!!