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long forgotten buttons.
In the 1800's they used buttons known as Pearls. The name really had nothing to do with the materials used as most of these buttons were made from shells. When the buttons wee finished and polished properly they resembled the ever popular pearl so the name stuck with them. You can still buy Pearl buttons today. They are manufactured from mussel shells retrieved from the Tennessee River.

The earliest samples of buttons discovered were fabricated from glass. Skilled glassblowers fashioned countless buttons in an profusion of finishes and bright colors. There is so much diversity in them that a novice collector of glass buttons alone will be kept absorbed for years to come.

Wooden buttons have a significant history and imparts the prevalent of all button categories. Wood was mostly used as the base material for a countless number of buttons. Talented women from the poorer families would spend their free time covering these discs with an assortment of diverse fabrics or finish them in needlepoint. The most common threads applied to the buttons were cotton, silks and wool. If you rummage around you possibly can still discover a copious hoard of these style buttons in attics or in basements.

A visit to any sewing store or craft shop will expose an immense selection of buttons available for purchase. Although most buttons are manufactured by large manufacturing concerns there can still be found a few small businesses that craft breathtaking buttons that would be invited into any collection. These buttons are as diverse as the sands on a beach. On them you will find birds, bugs events, and so much more. The choices are endless. Button collecting is as lively today as it was during my mother's era.

Learn more about this author, Joseph Parish.
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