Pegs Button Blog
all about antique vintage collectible collectable clothing/sewing buttons
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Saturday, February 1, 2025
The pot of basil button
isabella, or the Pot of Basil (1818) is a narrative poem by John Keats It tells the tale of a young woman sabella, or the Pot of Basil (1818) is a narrative poem by John Keats adapted from a story in Boccaccio's Decameron
(IV, 5). It tells the tale of a young woman whose family intend to
marry her to "some high noble and his olive trees", but who falls for
Lorenzo, one of her brothers' employees. When the brothers learn of
this, they murder Lorenzo and bury his body. His ghost informs Isabella
in a dream. She exhumes the body and buries the head in a pot of basil which she tends obsessively, while pining away.
antique metal button
Friday, January 24, 2025
THE LITTLE TAILOR , or NINE WITH ONE BLOW button
V
VERY scarce and rare
THE LITTLE TAILOR , or NINE WITH ONE BLOW button from the nursery tale in which the little Tailor tells everyone that he killed "nine at one blow" when the nine were really flies. The brass figure and fly are applied to a one piece,textured brass background The rim is attached to the background by short bars, leaving a space open at the side all away around
click on image to enlarge
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Taj Mahal set of 3 Motiwala buttons
set of 3 buttons Motiwala Taj Mahal plus..large enamel/silver
the figures Rulers of Mughal dynasty
Shanjahan and his wife Aurrnyzeb
click on image to enlarge
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Todd Oldham fashion designer buttons
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Popper glass antique buttons
1870's to just before World War 1
click on mage to enlarge
Saturday, March 30, 2024
Bicentennial set of 12 buttons
Bicentennial set of 12 Jasperware Wedgwood style buttons commemorate
made by Stella Rzanski in 1975i
size of buttons 2 1/8..self shank
click on image to enlarge
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Asian figures plus buttons on card
Asian figures plus buttons the figures 4 Chinese immortals in mid century silk Satsumas are from Japan cinnabar China
click on image to enlarge
Thursday, July 13, 2023
Tuesday, July 11, 2023
Saturday, February 4, 2023
Shoe buttons/hooks
Shoe buttons
These buttons, which were sewed on leather-and fabric-top shoes for fastenings, were made of several materials. Most of them were dome shaped. Black and white were the two most popular colors because they were made to match the shoes; however, colored shoe buttons were made. The colored ones were usually covered with paints, though some were made of colored glass. Unless the glass buttons are found on shoes, it is difficult to differentiate them from small dress buttons
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Shoe button Hooks: Most button hooks found in collections today were made between the 1860s and 1930s. They came into very common use with women's high button-up boots and shoes around 1880, and persisted until after World War I. Shoes for both men and women in the late 1800s were generally made of stiff leather or serge, with between 2 and 26 buttons; getting the buttons through the buttonholes of the stiff material could be a daunting task. Thanks to Paul Rice for this shoe button hooks research.
Click on picture to enlarge.
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Elephant buttons on material
the material is vintage from Bombay, India
buttons
2 tiny plastic, and 2 metal
click on image to enlarge
Sunday, May 1, 2022
Saturday, February 19, 2022
SPORTING antique BUTTONS
SPORTING antique BUTTONS
Sporting buttons were worn by gentlemen on their jackets (hunting coats). Commonly found in sets, early sporting buttons depict game, hunting dogs and hunters, as well other sporting activities such as fishing etc.
Materials include metals, horn, pearl, ivory and enamel
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my card are metal and one horn
the 1st button in last row is a HUNT button not sporting
click on image to enlarge
LIVERY antique BUTTONS
LIVERY antique BUTTONS Typically depicting heraldic designs of the family,
livery buttons were worn on servants clothing (livery) provided by the
master of the household and only occasionally by the owner. Major types
include achievements, and crests, there are also badges, initials, and
monograms. Most livery buttons were made of metal , but horn, pearl,
and glass mounted in metal exist.
When the master of the house died, metal buttons were darkened for a period of mourning
click on image to enlarge
Sunday, December 26, 2021
Eiffel Tower buttons
The Eiffel Tower was built from 1887 to1889 by French engineer Gustave Eiffel
vintage plastic button with enclosed stamp of Marianne (pronounced [maʁjan]) has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty.
click on image to enlarge
Sunday, November 21, 2021
Statue of Liberty buttons
Statue of Liberty buttons
1st row brass-plastic
2nd row 1st Elsa Schiaparelli button-brass with paper photo set under plastic cover ( light color is scanner glare
2nd antique brass
The statue was a gift to America from the people of France It arrived in
sections at New York city in 1885 and money for the pedestal was
obtained by public donations . The completed statue was dedicated by
Grover Cleveland in October 1886
click on image to enlarge
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Saturday, August 14, 2021
French Pearl Buttons
French Pearls Buttons
Gilded French Pearls
dated in the middle to late 1800s
click on image to enlarge
Saturday, July 17, 2021
Herman Lowenstein enamel ZODIAC set
Herman Lowenstein enamel ZODIAC set
1st sets were made in 1979 , he made 25 sets all alike
Herman pasted away in March 1982 at 87 years old.
click on image to enlarge
Thursday, June 10, 2021
Beatrix Potter buttons
my Beatrix Potter buttons
2 metalized plastic, 2 enameled brass, rest are plastic
click on image to enlarge
Saturday, April 17, 2021
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Lighthouse buttons
Google facts
What was the purpose of a lighthouse? What is a lighthouse? It is a tower with a bright light at the top, located at an important or dangerous place regarding navigation (travel over water). The two main purposes of a lighthouse are to serve as a navigational aid and to warn boats of dangerous areas. It is like a traffic sign on the sea
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The first known lighthouse was the Pharos of Alexandria, Egypt. Ptolemy I and his son Ptolemy II constructed it between 300 and 280 B.C. It stood about 450 feet high. This lighthouse was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was destroyed in stages by invaders and earthquakes, being destroyed in the 1300s.
The oldest existing lighthouse in the world is considered to be La Coruna in Spain that dates from ca. 20 B.C. A Roman lighthouse is located on the Cliffs of Dover in the UK that was constructed in 40 A.D. The first lighthouse in America was at Boston on Little Brewster Island (1716). The first keeper was George Worthylake who was drowned, along with his wife and daughter, when returning to the island in 1718. The original tower was destroyed by the British and eventually reconstructed in 1784.The oldest existing lighthouse in America (never rebuilt) is Sandy Hook, NJ (1764), which is still in operation. Part of the building of the lighthouse was paid for by the sale of lottery tickets and shipping interest in New York City paid for the rest.Newest shoreside Lighthouse is Sullivan’s Island in Charleston, SC, 1962.The first Great Lakes lighthouse were Buffalo (Main) and Erie, PA (1818)First Lighthouse actually built by the Government of the United States - Cape Henry Light, Virginia, completed in 1792.The only Triangular-shaped lighthouse tower is Sullivan’s Island in Charleston, SC.
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button materials: metal, wood, coconut shell, plastic, ceramic
click on image to enlarge
Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Windmill buttons
my card materials: glass, metal, plastic, ceramic
Google fun facts
The earliest known wind powered grain mills and water pumps were used by the Persians in A.D. 500-900 and by the Chinese in A.D. 1200.
The first windmill manufactured in the United States was designed by Daniel Halladay, who began inventing windmills in 1854 in his Connecticut machine shop
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The Netherlands has the most windmills
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Oldest windmill in the U.S.
The Farris windmill is said to be the oldest windmill in the United
States. It was built in the mid-1600s and operated in Cape Cod,
Massachusetts. The Farris family ran it for three generations,
starting in 1782.
CLICK on image to enlarge
Sunday, December 20, 2020
Saturday, December 19, 2020
Sunday, October 25, 2020
Friday, July 3, 2020
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Saturday, January 4, 2020
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Car covered with BUTTONS
National Button Society show this week at the Red Lion in Portland, OR. this car is in the parking lot
Here is the paper in the window
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Mushroom buttons
I dislike the taste of mushrooms but do like mushroom buttons
Some materials: celluloid, glass, wood, metal, ceramic, plastic and 1 large studio antler by Richard Carpenter
Sunday, March 24, 2019
Colt rouge/perfume container buttons
These are amino resin made for a short time in the 1940's by the plastics division of the Colt Firearm Company
The Cameo embossed lid screws off. Originally these were filled with rouge or perfume. When empty, the mark "COLT" may be seen inside the container
These are all Colt buttons. The ones in the top row plus the first two in the second row are all Colt Perfume buttons. I’ve noted the perfume fragrance under each of the seven buttons.
They are each stamped in black with the name on the back of the button. Some of the Perfume buttons have solid perfume in them and some still have a scent, a very old scent
The remaining buttons are all Colt Rouge buttons — no names on the back and some of these still have rouge
Card belongs to
Elaine Cossman long time button collector, button dealer at state and National shows
She started this collection in 1992
This is her work card. It’s recycled and isn’t pristine. No thought was given to placement except for keeping the perfume buttons together and the Rouge buttons together.
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Elaine thank you for permission to post this AWESOME card
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From the Big Book of Buttons
a short-lived novelty button made about 1945. The small, plastic rouge container has a screw-on top decorated with a molded cameo- style head.
The lower part of the container is fitted with a plastic shank
First Big (blue) Book printed in 1981 and reprinted (red) in 1991 valued the button at $4
The new (2 volume-red) Big Book the price guide values it at $40-$60
Sunday, February 24, 2019
The EAGLE..Buttons
Many centuries before it became an emblem of the United States, this bird had been accepted as the symbol of St. John the Evangelist. John's spirit is said to be like the eagle's in its soaring flight to the throne of God. The evangelist mentions the eagle several times in the Apocalypse. One passage is of particular interest because it includes the symbols of all four evangelists:..and around the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind. And the first living creature is like a lion and the second like a calf , and the third has the face, as it were, of a man, and the fourth is like an eagle flying"
Locally, the eagle is also a symbol of Boston College (Pilot Drawing by Ronery
click on image to enlarge