Wichita eagle., 1889-06-11
-SSMlIAM
zai1Y eagle
ALL ABOUT BUTTONS.
INTERESTING FACTS CONCERNING A
VERY USEFUL. ARTICLE.

The Greeks and Romans Did Not Have
Them-We Are Indebted to the French
for Their Inyention-In the Olden Times
When the Dudes Wore Dazzlers-
The word button French bouton, from
bout. an end or extremity, and bouter, to
bush or place., is less correctly applied to an
appendage Of dress than to tiny projection
Or collet intended to be pressed by the thumb
or finger for specific purpose, Of which the
aptest illustration is furnished by the ter
ninal button Of an electric bell The idea Of
utilizing the bouton for hanging anything
thereby, or fastening anything thereto, is Of
comparatively modern date; in short, neither
the term nor the article was known to the
ancienta The dress of the Greeks and Ro-
mans needed not the presence Of buttons,
ample substitutes for which were found In
the clasp. As evidence Of this fact, it may
DO cited that among all the paintings and
mosaics discovered In the ruins Of Pompeli,
no single illustration Of the button has ever
been brought to light. Nor did the simple
costume Of the Anglo-Saxons require those
accessories, which nowadays we could Ill
afford to dispense with
BUTTONS ALL OVER EN-"
Previous to the Norman conquest, then,
buttons in this country were altogether un-
known. so f here we have distinct proof
Of our histo ical Indebtedness to the French
for all innovations of fashion In the matter
Of costume The people Of Normandy must
certainly have been of On inventive turn Of
I'D fha1y have
the utility Of buttons in relation to dress.
Nothing in nature could have suggested the
button, unless, perhaps, 1t was that species Of
flower known as the bachelors button" but
this Is scarcely probable. Rather let us say
the suggestion came from the already familiar
wooden knob or extremity known as the bout
or bouton of their early furniture. We know
ourselves how convenient it is to hang any
article Of dress upon door or drawer handle,
or even on the collet Of bedpost, SO there
exists no doubt that In this way it was how
the Nor7nans hit upon the idea of temporarily
attaching one garment to another, until in
course Of time they dispensed with the an
Gent clasp altogether.
Once introduced, buttons soon came to be
generally adopted by all classes, though no
actual reference TO them Is to be traced in
Wiz
Fourteenth century The reign Of Edward |,
which ushered in tight fitting garments, ard
particularly sleeves, afforded scope for an
abundant display of buttons from the wrist
TO the elbow, of both sexes, set as thickly as
possible, as may be seen in Examinations and
upon efflgies Of this period. The writer of
1.-The Romance of Sir Degrevant," for ex-
ample, in describing the costume of an earl's
Ill lr,%a
was toore,"i e., hard-to count her bottoms
would be difficult. Even the servants OF the
time became infected with the craze. The
habit Of aping their masters In this partlcu-
lar Is thus satirized by an old author:
Now tho horse clawers clothed in prid,
They Dusk them In buttons Is It were a bride.
During the reign Of Edward III the but
tons were set close upon one another down
the front Of the coat hardie coat or tunic)
Of males and the gown Of females. In the
next century. however, they suffered con-
siderable decline, in consequence of the in
PRODUCTION Of laces and points; but, by the
Sixteenth century, they recovered their as
tendency to such degree that not only did
they appear in greater profusion and variety
than before, but tho material Of which they
were composed included gold, silver and even
diamonds.
MARKS OF DISTINCTION.
In the twelfth year of Charles II button:
constituted the chief imports of the country,
and were subjected TO a heavy duty. Soor
after this reign, however, gold and silver
buttons degenerated into those Of paste
which at the same time rivaled tie briltancy
of the most precious gems, while steel button:
Of abnormal size, highly polished, became the
distinctive mark of the handles who frequent
ed the Mall and Birdcage walk of st. James
park in the days gone by. In proof of this, G
Ts,{Jular caricature Of the year 1777 has fol
its subject one Of these effeminate individual
dazzling lady by the brightness Of his stee
buttons
1t is, perhaps, well for US that the prosaic
age IN which we live affords little encourage
ment for eccentricity in regard TO the wear
ing of buttons, whether in points Of size Oh
number And yet the button rage Of th'
middle ages certainly found a revival between
the years 1873 and 1881, during which perioc
the Birmingham button manufacturers must
have made their fortunes. Then it was thai
the buttons on lady'S costume resembled th'
stars In the heavens, for there existed no pos
sibility OF counting them. There were but
tons on the back and buttons down the front
buttons over the shoulders and buttons al
the way down and across the skirts; buttons
on the pockets and buttons everywhere; Their,
were even buttons round the hat.
In China the highest grade Of literary
distinction is marked by gold button af
fixed on the cap Of the Individual. The diff
ferent grades of mandarins are likewise de
noted by the color Of the buttons which they
are privileged TO wear. So, also, in Europe
button ON the front Of the cap formerly rep
resented mark of civil honor. Thus Shake
speare makes Guildenstern in Hamlet" say
On fortunes cap we ere not the very button;
meaning not the most highly favored Again
George Gascoigne, IN his Workmanship,
makes similar allusion to the courtly favor
of one of bis gallants:
His bonnet buttoned with gold,
His conIe cape Regarded ali with gay,
Ills bonlbast hose with Innings manifold
London Queen.