Hundreds of thousands of clothing buttons, plain and fancy, will be for sale and on display at the New Jersey State Button Society Show and Competition on Saturday, May 9, 9 to 4 p.m.  one of the first plastics made from synthetic components. Competition trays will be on view from noon to 3 p.m., and Jennifer Lackovick will give a talk at 1:30 p.m. on Bakelite, one of the first plastics made from synthetic components. At left, a button made of Bakelite,

I’m a member of the New Jersey State Button Society and the National Button Society. We share an interest in studying, collecting, and preserving clothing buttons, both old and new. If  you have any interest in antique, vintage, or modern buttons, try to join us on Saturday. A dozen dealers will be there (as shown below). You can poke through assortments of inexpensive buttons for crafts or find that one fancy button you need for an outfit — or compare the precious buttons in your grandma’s jar with those on display.

The Union Fire Company & Rescue Squad building is located at 1396 River Road (Route 29), Titusville, NJ 08560, at the intersection of Route 29 and Park Lake Avenue, opposite the Delaware River and D&R Canal State Park (with easy access to the canal park), a half mile north of Washington Crossing State Park in Hopewell Township, and some five miles south of Lambertville and New Hope, PA. Free parking. For questions, email Sara Mulford (pictured on right) at slmulford@verizon.net or 856-275-6945

Here’s another Bakelite button to whet your appetite!