For Women’s History Month — and for National Button Week – here is a button that covers both. It is of the Brooklyn Bridge. This article credits its construction to Emily Roebling who took her father-in-law’s drawings and advice from her bedridden husband to direct the workers.
To honor National Button Week and also the 75th anniversary of the New Jersey State Button Society, I will give a talk on how buttons can illuminate local history. This button will be on prominent display — in fact it is in the case at the Lawrence Branch of the Mercer County Library now. Set for Saturday, March 19, at 2 p.m. at the library, the free talk will focus on Theresa Doelger Kuser, doyenne of Kuser Farm Mansion, and I will be joined by Sally Lane, her great granddaughter.
Perhaps I’ll see you there — or at the Women’s College Club of Princeton on Monday, March 21, at 1 p.m. at All Saint’s Church. Guests are welcome, and it will be a different subject, “Every Button has a Story: What story do your buttons tell?” The 133-year-old Brooklyn Bridge is billed as “the most well built bridge in the city” and surely it has stories to tell.
Pam Muzio judges winning trays at the NJSBS show and sale
If “diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” as Marilyn Monroe liked to sing, a very big cake and a diamond anniversary button will help members and guests of New Jersey State Button Society (NJSBS) celebrate its 75th Anniversary on Saturday, May 7, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The NJSBS will hold its Spring Show and Sale at the Union Fire Company hall, 1396 River Road (Route 29), Titusville, NJ 08560, where there is plenty of free parking. All are welcome; admission is $2 for adults, free for juniors to age 17.
More than a dozen dealers and artists will offer buttons made from enamel, china, metal, and ivory — plus modern and vintage buttons made from fruit pits, rubber, and glass. The anniversary button, made by New Jersey studio artist Nancy DuBois, will be distributed. At an information table, guests can learn about buttons and the collecting hobby. After the anniversary cake is cut at 1 p.m., there will be a button raffle, an NJSBS business meeting, and Annie Frazier, past president of the National Button Society, will lead a forum on how entries are judged for state competitions.
“This show of collectible clothing buttons attracts antique enthusiasts, quilters, crafters, re-enactors, and those seeking special buttons to wear,” says Sara Mulford, president of the NJSBS. “Whether you are fascinated with their artistic quality, want to examine their material and construction, or seek to delve into their history, there will be buttons for everyone in all price ranges.”
Members of the NJSBS share an interest in studying, collecting, and preserving clothing buttons, both old and new. The group was founded on March 27, 1941, at a time when a nationwide interest in button collecting was surging. Many authors of classic books on button collecting come from New Jersey.
The anniversary celebration will continue on Saturday, September 10, at the Fall Show and Sale, same times and place. The Union Fire Company & Rescue Squad building is located at the intersection of Route 29 and Park Lake Avenue in Titusville, opposite the Delaware River and D&R Canal State Park (within 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.
Saturday, May 7, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., New Jersey State Button Society Fall Show and Competition, Union Fire Company fire hall, 1396 River Road (Route 29), Titusville, NJ 08560. Diamond Anniversary Celebration. Admission: $2 for adults at the door. http://newjerseystatebuttonsociety.org
Saturday, September 10, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., New Jersey State Button Society Fall Show and Competition, Union Fire Company fire hall, 1396 River Road (Route 29), Titusville, NJ 08560. Admission: $2 for adults at the door. http://newjerseystatebuttonsociety.org
Have talk, will travel. Current fave topic: the world’s smallest antique, buttons.
Carol Meszaros and I will talk about button collecting at the Lawrence Library on Thursday, May 8, at 7 p.m. Everybody will have a “hands-on experience” and get to take some buttons home.
Another chance to learn about, and acquire button treasures, is at the New Jersey State Button Society show and sale to be held this Saturday, May 10, 9 to 4. It is at the Union Fire Company on River Road in Titusville, admission $2.
Carol, on the left in this picture, is looking through the button jars of Nancy Briggs Moser and Alice Cruser, who attended a talk we gave at Kuser Farm Mansion last month.
For the Thursday talk, the headquarters branch of the Mercer County Library system is just off Business Route 1 on Darrah Lane. You can also get there from Princeton Pike.
If you have always wondered about your grandmother’s button jar, join us!
Buttons like these will be on display at the New Jersey State Button Show and Sale on Saturday, May 11, 9 to 4 p.m. at the Union Firehouse in Titusville. Here is the article in U.S. 1 Newspaper. It’s fun to see all the different kinds of buttons — and you might just find some you “have to have.”
One of the categories for this show is enamel buttons, as on the left. Below, a card of buttons that are are actually in the shape of what they depict: bird, rooster, crab, bear, elephant, flower, thimble, etc.
The NJSBS show is held twice a year forNew Jerseyand tri-state button enthusiasts who enjoy the artwork and history of buttons, including their manufacture and design. “Our shows attract quilters, crafters, antique collectors, reenactors, and those seeking special buttons to wear,” says Lillian Buirkle, president of the 71-year-old organization.
The fire hall is at 1396 River Road (Route 29), at the intersection of Route 29 and Park Lake Avenue in Titusville, opposite the Delaware River and D&R; Canal State Park (within 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.Admission is $2 for adults at the door, free for juniors to age 17. Also that day is the New Jersey History fair across the road in the Washington Crossing State Park.
Johnson Frazier, a button historian and dealer, will present a 1:30 p.m. program, “Banners on Buttons,” showcasing buttons that display ribbons and flags in their designs, some as early as the 18th century, along with a brief history about the buttons pictured. Throughout the day there will be a variety of activities, including the judging of button trays entered into competition, an educational display of buttons worn on gloves, and a button raffle.
the left in this picture, is looking through the button jars of Nancy Briggs Moser and Alice Cruser, who attended a talk we gave at Kuser Farm Mansion last month.
Princeton Comment 