What's So Special About a Button? According to the producers of this upcoming event, buttons are cultural bellwethers of trends, art styles and societal perceptions.
There will be thousands of special antique and collectible clothing and uniform buttons on display and for sale at the 2015 National Button Society’s National Convention and Show the week of July 27 through August 1, at the Radisson Hotel Center in Manchester. The show theme is “The Buttons Are Coming,” incorporating New England’s patriotic history.
This six-day event will offer educational programs and competition featuring antique, vintage and modern clothing buttons. The main attraction for attendees is the showroom concourse where over 50 dealers, from around the world, will offer buttons for sale plus host button displays that most people have never seen. Special programs and presentations include: State Militia Buttons of New England, COLTS: Buttons from Guns, Making Pewter Buttons, and Searching the British Archives for Button History plus many more special events.
Why are buttons such an appealing collectible? Why would anyone want to collect plain old buttons? For the uninitiated, when someone offers up the statement ‘I’m a button collector,’ the image emerges of plastic shirt buttons typically used in the apparel industry. But buttons are cultural bellwethers of trends, styles and societal perceptions. Name a material, any material, and it has been used in button production. Subject matter is also varied and inclusive, including political statements, organizational affiliation, employer identification, cosmic links, and religious overtures. Or, how about flowers, plants, animal life, hobbies, Eros, classical renditions? These subjects and nearly everything imaginable have been represented on clothing buttons. The national society, organized in 1938, is structured around the study and dissemination of information about these fascinating and never ending items.
More information about the depth and breadth of button collecting can be found on the National Button Society website www.nationalbuttonsociety.org. Tidbits of button history, photos, connections to nearby clubs, and show schedules are provided there.
It is estimated that there will be 500,000 buttons available for public viewing when the showroom opens to the public at 10 a.m. July 30. This is an inclusive show attracting not only button collectors but also jewelry makers, crafters, quilters and other creative specialists who find great beauty, history and utility in these miniature works of art. Showroom hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 30 and Friday, July 31. Hours on Saturday, August 1 will be 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Admission is $5 per day. www.nationalbuttonsociety.org
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