The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-09-30

TT HE rival cities of Sheffield and Bir-
 mingham, in England, have long
 \ been at odds as to the number and value of their respective products, partic- ularly those made of metal. Sheffield still brides herself on her manufacture of what is now known as Sheffield plate, carefully concealing the fact that it was made at Birmingham also, and says that Birming- ham is noted for three things only-but- tons, buckles and riots.
 People can hardly appreciate today the great change which the use of buttons has made in the dress of men. Consider what labor it was when it took 300 points to tie the doublet to the hose, points being silken strings with tags or metal points on them. Imagine the state of mind of the suburban resident of today if he had to struggle with such things and the morning train only two stations away
 Buckles, while of less importance, were for more than 200 years necessary part of the dress of every man, woman and child in Great Britain and her colonies, as well as in most of the European couh- tries. Pepys, who notes in his diary most of the vagaries of fashion, says for Jan uary 12, 1850, This day l began lo put buckles on my shoes
 In the Toilet of England" 1t Is record ed for 1870: The Spanish leather boot introduced under Charles l. still continues to be the fashion, but the immense roses on the shoes have gradually declined ana are deplaced by wide strings and buckles. In the portraits by Van Dyke you VIII find very few buckles though they are present in those painted by Lely and van
 4eyl, thRm on the little satin slippers of his ladies' and Sir Joshua Reynolds painted hls ad- nnirals in stockings and small clothes with immense buckles on their shoes, cos tune which has disappeared from every place but the stage.
 Of course, when the court set the eX- ample everybody who could sported buc- lles and the factories of Birmingham and Sheffield turned out immense num- bers When the fashion was at its helght and they were worn on shoe ana knee 9 100000 were turned out annually at Bir- mingham alone. They were made of pew ter. copper, brass, silver plate, silver, gold and steel
 The collecting of buckles is a fad in- dulged in by the few, yet in almost every cabinet of bijou treasures, miniatures, fans. bits of lace, carved worries, and sucn thinrs vou will find buckle or two. You can almost tell the calling of the wearer by the shape and material of the buckle,
 The landlord wore buckles of brass or conner. The schoolmaster wore plated buckles. plain or with a slight beading on the edge.
 The prosperous merchant had buckles of silver wrought in pattern, and the court dame wore buckles large and slen- der set with pearls, diamonds, or rose paste It is odd that so many of these gathered derelicts are single ones, not pairs.
 From 1850 to ITO may be called the hlsn time in the reign of buckles for though they were still worn till about 1900, the fashion was gradually declining, although the buckle remains to this day an i'm portant part of English court costume as well as of civil service uniform.
 The sizes of buckles varied immensely from tiny affairs which were worn at the knee or to the loop up the hat, to those invented by George III, which were one inch wide and five inches broad. covering the, whole instep and reaching down to the ground on either side of the foot.
 Even the example of royalty was Of no avail, and slowly but surely the pleblah shoestring crowded the decorative shoe buckle out of use. The manufacturers or England did not let so important an in- dustry die without a protest. Birming- ham and one or two other towns sup piled America. Holland, Germany, Spain, italy and France with all the buckles they needed
 When about 179O the shoestring began to gain ground petition was drawn up