BUTTON, a small circular disc or knob of mother of pearl, horn, metal or other material, with a shank or perforations through its centre for attachment to an object, and made to fit into a hole formed in another one for its re ception, the two fastening the objects together. Its chief use is to unite portions of a dress to gether. The ancient method of fastening dresses was by means of pins, brooches, buckles and tie-strings. Buttons of brass are found on dresses of the 16th century. Gilt buttons were first made in 1768 and those of papier-miche in 1778. Buttons of vegetable ivory are now all but universally used for tweed coats and vests. The palm fruit which yields it is called corozo nut. It is not unlike true ivory but softer, and is easily turned and dyed. These buttons are often mottled with some stain to suit the common patterns of tweed stuffs. Recently a substitute vegetable ivory has been found in the seeds of a common palm of north ern Africa (Hyphena. thebacia). These seeds are known to the trade as gingerbread doum, doom or dum nuts. They are much cheaper than the tagua, corozo or South American ivory nuts, and are available in much larger quantities. The difficulty at present is the adaptation of existing machinery to the manufacture of but tons from this African nut, but it is believed that within a short time manufacturers will see the advisability of installing machinery espe cially designed to make buttons, trinkets and toys in the most efficient manner from this new and less expensive material. Mother of pearl but tons are formed of the beautiful substance of which the large flat shell of the pearl oyster consists, and this has long been a favorite material for buttons. Small cylinders are first cut out of the shells with a tubular saw. These are then split into discs, which are shaped by a steel tool, drilled with holes, and finally polished with rotten stone and soft soap, or by a more recent method with ground charcoal and turpen tine. Shirt studs as well as flat and globular buttons with metal shanks are also made of this substance.
Among other animal substances used for but tons are ivory, bone, horn, and hoof. From this last so-called horn buttons were some years ago made in enormous numbers by pressing them in heated dies in which the design was cut. There are many kinds of composition buttons. Glass buttons are made in great
variety. For pinched buttons small rods of colored glass are heated at the ends, and pressed into shape by means of a pair of rather long hand pliers, on the ends of which are a die and its counterpart, likewise kept hot. Other kinds are cut out of colored sheet glass, which is coated on the back with tin amalgam like a mirror. With other varieties, some beau tiful glass buttons are made in Bohemia, either partly or wholly of aventurine glass; and of this gold-spangled material artistically in wrought with other colors, studs and solitaires still more remarkable for their beauty and minute patterns are made at Venice. Porce lain buttons were a few years ago nearly all of French manufacture, but are now made principally at Prague. The plastic clay is pressed into molds of plaster of Paris in the same way as small objects are usually produced in earthenware. Some are plain and others are painted or printed with patterns. More or less expensive buttons are made of ornamental stone, such as agate, jasper and marble. Oc casionally they are formed of amber, jade or of still more costly materials, as pearls and gems. In recent years, improved methods and machines have been introduced for the shap ing as well as for the polishing and finishing of bone, corozo and wood buttons. In England, Birmingham is the seat of the button trade, which, however, is much more largely de veloped in France. Brass buttons were made in Philadelphia in 1750, and hard-wood but tons were made there soon after. The button factory in Waterbury, Conn., now the seat of the metal button manufacture, was established about 1800. Horn buttons were made in the United States as early as 1812, and the produc tion of buttons covered by machinery was be gun at Easthampton, Mass., by Samuel Willis ton in 1827. The making of composition but tons was begun at Newark, N. J., in 1862, and there have been about 1,500 patents for but tons issued by the patent office of the United States. In 1850 there were in the United States 59 establishments for the manufacture of but tons, with an output whose value was placed at $964,359. According to the returns of the United States census of manufactures for 1914 the but ton industry comprised 517 establishments, pro ducing in that year 60,602,359 gross of buttons valued at $16,233,198.