BELLEFONTE — ‘Button, button, who’s got the button?’
Lynda DeBrasky, of Bellefonte, may or may not have played that game as a child, but, she certainly has a button now — many, in fact. After collecting the fasteners for more than 20 years, the Bellefonte woman has accumulated quite a beautiful and extensive selection of buttons.
‘Most people look at me like I’m crazy when I mention that I collect buttons,” said DeBrasky. “They often think I am talking about political buttons from election campaigns or something. I tell them that I am a collector of buttons from clothing and try to explain my interest; I got started originally because my mother had many buttons.”
Many readers may remember their mothers or grandmothers owning a button box or jar, where buttons from worn-out clothing were saved to be reused later. I remember my mother telling me to “go get the button tin,” when I lost a button from a shirt or blouse.
The Pennsylvania State Button Society Bulletin, of which DeBrasky is the editor, had a fascinating look at the history of button collecting in its January-April 2018 edition.
During the Depression, doctors and educators urged people to take up hobbies as a way to deal with uncertainty and to relieve stress.
Dr. Otto Lightner, an entrepreneur and publisher of Hobbies magazine, thought everyone should collect something. Examples of collected items from that period, including matchbooks, cigar bands and coins, are displayed in the Lightner Museum in St. Augustine, Fla.
Lightner first organized the National Button Society in his offices in Chicago in the 1930s. Interest in button collecting accelerated after the first National Button Society Show in 1939 in Chicago.
As the button hobby caught on, people would search through their own button stashes, then turn to old clothes in their attics, bureau drawers, etc. Many unusual and historic buttons were found that way. Those interested in buttons began forming clubs to enjoy collecting and trading with others.
The Pennsylvania State Button Society was formed in 1947, and by 1965 the society claimed 339 members. Today, there are seven district clubs affiliated with the PSBS.
“The closest club is the Susquehanna Club that meets in Lewisburg,” said DeBrasky, who also serves as the society’s membership chairman. “There are clubs with only four or five people, but the Keystone Club near Pittsburgh has 30 members.”
Those who study buttons learn to appreciate the workmanship that went into them. One collection belonging to DeBrasky features riveted black glass, with each tiny piece attached to metal.
Buttons can be made of any of a number of materials, including antler, bone, ceramic porcelain, clay, earthenware, stoneware, bone china, fabric, hooves and horns and dozens more. Today, there are many new materials used in buttons, such as polymer clay, and newer technologies, such as laser engraving and 3-D printing, used to make them. Several online marketplaces, including eBay and Etsy, make it easy to add to collections.
For competitions, button collectors display their collections mounted, attached with plastic coated wires and within glass frames of a specific size. DeBrasky’s framed collections include black glass, ‘Gay ’90s’ and picture buttons.
The ‘Gay ’90s’ collection features buttons from the late 1800s with stones set in metal. Each button can be worth from $80 to $125, according to DeBrasky.
“The hobby is as expensive as you want it to be,” said DeBrasky. “Many people buy very inexpensive buttons and have just as much enjoyment from them. It’s the fun of trying to find certain colors, materials or types of buttons that keeps people collecting.”
DeBrasky’s collections are displayed on the walls of her home. Among her collections is one featuring dozens of railroad buttons from various railroad companies. She also is working on a collection of police buttons, and wants to include uniform buttons from the police in every state.
DeBraksy owns file cabinets filled with works in progress, cards almost full, but perhaps missing the final two or three buttons to make a set complete. All cards are catalogued and labeled in the drawers.
According to DeBrasky, most states have button shows twice a year and those shows usually last for one or two days. The awards are modest — a first-place prize might be $5 — but the interaction with other “button people” makes up for that.
The National Button Society Show will be held coming up from Sunday, Aug. 19, through Saturday, Aug. 25, in Jacksonville, Fla. The show is open to both members and non-members.
The Pennsylvania State Button Society Fall Show is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 20, and Sunday, Oct. 21, at the Lancaster Host Resort and Conference Center. Hosted by the Star Button Club, the theme this year is “Dragons and Wyverns and Griffins — Oh, My!”
For more information about collecting buttons, email DeBrasky at ldebrasky@verizon.net.
