Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1901-01-25

nished or. better, rubbed down with
shellnc. The rough edge was scraped
clean, but left in its natural darkness.
After the vanishing and rubbing
down ii only remained to add a pin
and catch. The butternut brooch was
i'll to handle. 1t did not fasten the
voluminous collars of the period, nor
was it equal to holding down the stiff
cravats. The usual way of wearing
it was to stick it upon the bodice
little below the throat, we'll toward
the left. Popular girls often boasted
a dozen of the pins. and went decked
with them as a warrior with his med
ais.
The fashion prevailed nightly in
the middle west, where she butter
nut grows Justify. When Kentucky
and Tennessee, both debatable lands,
but in the main under federal con-
troll, took up the fad. black walnuts
were substituted for the butternuts,
and they made even handsomer pins.
1t is commentary on the then pre-
vailing state OF things that the old
men made the breastpins, which were
given by lads too young TO fight to
young women of every age. The old
men lacked occupation, the lads
lacked skill. In combination they
decked their womenkind. Time was
so tense then, measured indeed by
heartbeats, that any sort of light and
amusing work was little short of a
godsend.
These southern butternut pins had
overshadowing rivals in tie black
jewelry, which came out of northern
prisons. The $4,000 odd men who
went from Fort Donelson to Camp
Douglas found a great resource in
carving and inlaying rings, pins and
brooches, made from hard black gut
tapercha buttons. They had only
their pocketBnives, and pocketknives
even We're by no means universal.
Buttons We're not easily come by, so
it was the part of wisdom to spend
as much time as possible over each
one. With infinite pains and patience
deft-fngered prisoners scraped out
rings, shaped the rings properly to
fit some well-remembered finger and
then began inlaying them on top
with bits of shell or bone OF mother
of-pearl. The mother-of-pearl came
out of other buttons bought from a
friendly sutler. Prisoners who had
friends within the federal lines re-
ceived money from them, and divided
with their fellows whose homes were
farther south.
Much of the button-carving was
rude, evidently nothing more than
pastime work, but some of it reached
the level of artistic handicraft and
was, drawbacks considered, really
wonderful. One man, working with
only two-bladed knife, and darn
ing needle punch, sent to his baby
whom he had never seen, locket
formed of two bggish fiat buttons
inlaid around the edges with points
of pearl, and with pearl star in the
center. The two were ingeniously
cased with strip OF tin cut from 6
sardine box and beaten into rim
shape. 1t was held together at tn,
bottom by the wire that served al
hinge. At top there was blacl
ring cut out of waistcoat button
with pearl dots inlaid all round. L
worked in looped wire which RAJ
through the casing tin. Inside thu
locket was lined with faded red vel
vet, that had originally done duty il
a daguerreotype case. The lining an'
the inlaying were held in place will
glue, which the locket maker had oh
tanned by saving the bones of hi
meat ration for week, and boiling
them steadily for day and night