BUTTON. The term B. is applied to the well-known appendages to dress used for fastening or for ornament; and to a sort of oblong latch moving upon a pivot in the mid dle, used by joiners and cabinet-makers for fastening the lids of boxes, doors of presses, etc. The mass of fused metal found at the bottom of a crucible or cupel, after fusing or assaying, is also technichally called a button.
The history of button-making is in ninny ways a curious one Dating no further back as a trade of any importance than the reign of Elizabeth, it has undergone several extraordinary changes, produced chiefly by the ever-varying fashions in dress, but also. by some simple, though ingenious inventions, as well as by foreign competition. In Great Britain, 13irmingharn has always been the principal seat of the button manufacture. What has been called the "Augustan age" of button-making in that city included the latter portion of last and the early part of the present century, when even tradesmen wore coats "loaded with innumerable gilt buttons," and when employers on a moderate scale in this manufacture were making incomes of from £2000 to r'3000 a year, and their workmen from £2 to £4 per week. Early in the present century, Mr. 13. Sanders intro duced the cloth-covered button, which initiated the change from those made of metal, and by which he rapidly made a fortune. His son, in 1825, effected the apparently trivial but really ingenious improvement of making it with a canvas tuft instead of a metal shank, by which both the button-holes and the garment itself were less subject to injury. This kind of button had an enormous sale, and is still much used. A further alteration was made on it by Mr. W. Elliott, who patented, in 1837, a mode of covering the button with silk, having a pattern in the center, the demand for which was at one time so great, that sixty looms were employed in London in making the special material required for them. In 1841, the old Dorsetshire wire and thread button was replaced by the "three fold linen button," still considered by housewives indispensable for under-clothing, since neither washing nor mangling destroys it. It is said to be the invention of Mr. H. Jef fries, of Birmingham, but was patented by 31r. J. Aston. and continues to be made in vast numbers. A single English firm recently consumed in one year for this kind of button, 63,000 yards of cloth and 34 tons of metal, upon which 250 hands were employed.
Turning now to other materials which have had a great "success" in their day, we find that buttons made of hoof, under the name of "horn buttons," as introduced nearly 40 years ago by Mons. E. Bassot of Paris, were for a good many years most extensively manufactured at Birmingham, and sent to all parts of the world. In ltoof buttons the is now comparatively insignificant, and the French makers possess the market for what of it remains. Tweed clothing and fabrics in imitation of it have, through the necessity of matching their various colors, led to the buttons for them being made of a rather uncommon material, namely, vegetable ivory (q.v.). This substance, which is the fruit of a palm, somewhat resembles true ivory, but is rather softer. It can be read ily turned in the lathe, and dyed of various colors. More than twenty tons of it, valued at from £25 to £30 per ton, are weekly consumed in Birmingham in making buttons, and it is also largely used for the sante purpose in France and Germany.
What we have hitherto said refers principally to what manufacturers call the revolu tions of the trade; but there are other important branches which have been less subject to change, chief among these being the so-called "pearl buttons"—that is, buttons made of mother-of-pearl shells. This has long been a leading branch, and employs a greater number hands than any other. Metal buttons, too, although not relatively so important as formerly. have never ceased to form a prominent section of the trade. They are a numerous class, and include all sorts for uniforms, trouser buttons, fancy buttons which are gilt, stamped, chased. or enameled, and many cheap varieties in iron and other metals for export. Numerous kinds of composite buttons are also partly composed of metal. Glass buttons form another interesting branch, carried on to a considerable extent in Birmingham, but more largely in Bohemia and Paris; so also do porcelain buttons, which, although an English invention, are now almost exclusively made in France. Vulcanite (q.v.) buttons have been extensively made in the United States. As to other materials, a Birmingham manufacturer says it were easy to write out a long list from which buttons have been made, but very difficult to name one from which they have not been made.