Page 10 - January1960

NATTONAL BUTTON BULLETIN January, 1960

EiAITER BUTTtrNSi trATALtrEiUED
.A,ND DEStrRIBED
HELEN W. SCHULER, and EI,UTI{ LAMM

Gaiter buttons stand out in the china section as a homogenous group charac-
terlzed by solid, chunky bodies and metal loop shanks with plates.
In the early days of collecting, they were among the china buttons known as
"Everyday" or "Forgotten" buttons. Tlrrough the years they have been neglected
as they were considered to be too common by most collectors. Today, with calico€s
in popular demand, the minor types are beginning to get the attention they de-
serve and it is oul desire to bring gaiter buttons out of hiding.
Original cards establish the fact that they were contemporary with calicoes
and that the tr'rench manufacturer Felix Bapterosses, celebrated for mass produc-
tion ol high quality china buttons, exported metal shanked ones as part of his
regular line.

Plate l. Original cards of
Gaiter Buttons from the
Schuler Collection.

A card of twenty-four white perle Iuster domes carries drawings of four dif-
ferent prize medels, each one shown both front and back. The wording on the
card is "Boutons Perle/Patented in England and America/Brevetes S.D.G.D./
F.B./No. 4 Depot a Paris No. 4." Another card of cones with nearly identical
wording pictures five patent disks with dates from 1852 to 1862. A third card has
eight disks marked with the dates 1851, 53, 55, 62, 67,52,65 and 49, in that order
reading from left to right. See illustration.