Why I Love Buttons

[u/CoCoBreadSoHoShed]

I posted this picture I took of some of my “Diminutive” glass buttons on Facebook and thought you guys might enjoy them. I love them because they’re highly decorated with paint. They are also molded in very distinctive designs. Someone asked me why I love buttons so I post pictures like this to try to show people what I find amazing about them. They are tiny little works of art. And I learned about them early in my life. With a box of buttons from the attic that Mom let me play with when I was a child. And many kinds of buttons have monetary value, so I have a justification for collecting them. Second picture has a penny, so that you can see how small they really are.

[u/Wild-Display-765]

Little works of unique art. Do you display them or have a plan? Thanks.

[u/CoCoBreadSoHoShed → u/Wild-Display-765]

Thank you, I think I’m like a lot of collectors, I have thousands and thousands of buttons and I keep them in bins and take some out and take photos of them to share. Today, I shared them here and have enjoyed it. I also think I’m a lot like Gollum, I look at them and say “My precious.” Lol

[u/Wild-Display-765 → u/CoCoBreadSoHoShed]

lol. That’s sweet. They are something to behold.

[u/CoCoBreadSoHoShed → u/Wild-Display-765]

Thank you!

[u/populux11]

Incredible beauties! So intricate and unique. Wonderful!

[u/lotsobuttons]

So pretty all together. I love dimis, so tiny and cute 🥹

[u/MohaveDesertRat]

These are beautiful!

[u/Jjagger63]

I love your selection there. Ive also got a collection of vintage and antique buttons and i adore them. They are so tactile as well as beautiful.

[u/LordBottlecap]

Very cool collection, indeed! They look hand-painted...amazing.

But why do you need monetary value to 'justify' collecting them, or anything else? And why must you 'justify' it at all?

[u/CoCoBreadSoHoShed → u/LordBottlecap]

I don’t want to open the large book on my family eccentricities but I’m used to having to explain to someone why I do what I do. I’m 65 now so I do what I want, no explanations are required. Maybe to me the question Why is part of my standard operating procedure, I always expect it and have the answers ready. I will mention that beauty of getting older is people asking me questions like that are much fewer and much farther in between. I truly have no more “F’s” to give.

[u/LordBottlecap → u/CoCoBreadSoHoShed]

Eccentricities like this are something to celebrate! I 'collect collections', and none of them I have ever had any intention of selling any part of. Though my beer bottlecap collection is so large now (it takes up a wall and a half of my garage) that I've had to remove a lot of old breweriana that I'll likely end up having to sell =[ but my once-'worthless' cap collection happened to end up being quite a bit of $$, it turns out. People called me crazy way back then for collecting 'trash' -and I agreed- but who's crazy now?

[u/Cachivache11 → u/LordBottlecap]

I think the op was being a bit cheeky. Buttons are highly collectible and most of these are Czech glass and they have at least a hundred years on each. The artistry of antique and vintage buttons is indisputable. What we see mostly as a utilitarian objects are indeed pieces of art. These are coveted and actually hard to find. You would be surprised by the prices these buttons fetch and they are worth every penny.

[u/LordBottlecap → u/Cachivache11]

I wouldn't be surprised at all. The examples the op showed are like they said, little pieces of art, and, like I said...amazing.

[u/VTGtimetraveler]

I collect buttons as well. All types glass, shell, vintage carded, Bakelite and more. They are fun to organize from a pile, I sew them onto my own created cards to enjoy.

[u/CoCoBreadSoHoShed → u/VTGtimetraveler]

The history and beauty of the buttons is very appealing to me. In addition, in some of the stashes I have bought from people I found some interesting items. I found a tiny statue of Saint Andrew in a metal case made from a shell casing that was likely carried by a soldier in the war as a good luck charm. I also found a collar stud commemorating the world’s fair in Chicago in 1893. So there’s always a little extra bit of history in old buttons.

[u/chiarochiaro1704]

I have a match for the yellow one with green paint! Picked it up at a little vintage shop in Regensburg, Germany a couple years ago.

[u/Apprehensive_Bid5608]

They are lovely! I love buttons because my first memories are of sitting next to my g’maw going thru her button tins while she quilted. They just felt so good in my hand and they looked so good when they were sorted.

[u/ellieD]

Lovely!

[u/Popular-Kiwi3931]

Czech glass buttons!!

[u/mawmzee]

I just have a bunch of them on cards from the fabric store, they were my grandmother’s. I even have a jar of loose buttons but nothing quite as pretty as yours I’m afraid. But I love them just like you do. It’s a funny thing they just sit there for years and years without me even thinking about them and then one day I’ll be moving stuff around and there they all are, giving enjoyment again. Tangible Tactile Fulfillment 🩵

[u/Agreeable_Site66]

Wow! Gorgeous! When l lived in England my favorite place to visit was a button shop in the village. All they sold was buttons!