Wedgwood button with Boulton cut steels, depicting a mermaid & family, England, circa 1760. Actual diameter: just over 32mm (1 1/4")

Modern buttons made from vegetable ivory

In modern clothing and fashion design, a button is a small fastener, most commonly made of plastic, but also frequently of seashell, which secures two pieces of fabric together. In archaeology, a button can be a significant artifact. In the applied arts and in craft, a button can be an example of folk art, studio craft, or even a miniature work of art.

Buttons are most often attached to articles of clothing but can also be used on containers such as wallets and bags. However, buttons may be sewn onto garments and similar items exclusively for purposes of ornamentation. Buttons serving as fasteners work by slipping through a fabric or thread loop, or by sliding through a buttonhole.

Buttons in museums and galleries[link]

17th century Spanish metal button

Some museums and art galleries hold culturally, historically, politically, and/or artistically significant buttons in their collections. The Victoria & Albert Museum has many buttons, particularly in its jewellery collection, as does the Smithsonian Institution.^[1][2][3][4]

Hammond Turner & Sons, a button-making company in Birmingham, hosts an online museum with an image gallery and historical button-related articles, including an 1852 article on button-making by Charles Dickens. In the USA, large button collections are on public display at The Waterbury Button Museum of Waterbury, Connecticut, the Keep Homestead Museum of Monson, Massachusetts, which also hosts an extensive online button archive and in Gurnee, Illinois at The Button Room.

Early button history[link]

Clam shell used for making buttons

Hand-painted Satsuma ware self-shank button

Buttons and button-like objects used as ornaments or seals rather than fasteners have been discovered in the Indus Valley Civilization during its Kot Diji phase (circa 2800-2600 BCE)^[5] as well as Bronze Age sites in China (circa 2000-1500 BCE), and Ancient Rome.

Buttons made from seashell were used in the Indus Valley Civilization for ornamental purposes by 2000 BCE.^[6] Some buttons were carved into geometric shapes and had holes pierced into them so that they could be attached to clothing with thread.^[6] Ian McNeil (1990) holds that: "The button, in fact, was originally used more as an ornament than as a fastening, the earliest known being found at Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley. It is made of a curved shell and about 5000 years old."^[7]

Functional buttons with buttonholes for fastening or closing clothes appeared first in Germany in the 13th century.^[8] They soon became widespread with the rise of snug-fitting garments in 13th- and 14th-century Europe.

Materials and manufacture[link]

Because buttons have been manufactured from almost every possible material, both natural and synthetic, and combinations of both, the history of the material composition of buttons reflects the timeline of materials technology.

Buttons can be individually crafted by artisans, craftspeople or artists from raw materials or found objects (for example fossils), or a combination of both. Alternatively, they can be the product of low-tech cottage industry or can be mass-produced in high-tech factories. Buttons made by artists are art objects, known to button collectors as "studio buttons" (or simply "studios", from studio craft)The most famous button artist is known as Renarldo Galvies.He was born in 1958 in France and he is known for crafting some of the worlds finest buttons to some button collectors.^[9]

Nowadays, hard plastic, seashell and wood are the most common materials used in button-making; the others tending to be used only in premium or antique apparel, or found in collections.

Decoration and coating techniques[link]

Historically, fashions in buttons have also reflected trends in applied aesthetics and the applied visual arts, with buttonmakers using techniques from jewellery making, ceramics, sculpture, painting, printmaking, metalworking, weaving and others. The following are just a few of the construction and decoration techniques that have been used in button-making:

Styles of attachment[link]

• Shank buttons have a hollow protrusion on the back through which thread is sewn to attach the button.^[17] Button shanks may be made from a separate piece of the same or a different substance as the button itself, and added to the back of the button, or be carved or moulded directly onto the back of the button, in which latter case the button is referred to by collectors as having a 'self-shank'.
• Flat or sew-through buttons have holes through which thread is sewn to attach the button. Flat buttons may be attached by sewing machine rather than by hand, and may be used with heavy fabrics by working a thread shank to extend the height of the button above the fabric.

Three plastic sew-through buttons (left) and one shank, fabric-covered button (right).

• Stud buttons (also pressure buttons, press studs or snap fasteners) are metal (usually brass) round discs pinched through the fabric. They are often found on clothing, in particular on denim pieces such as pants and jackets. They are more securely fastened to the material. As they rely on a metal rivet attached securely to the fabric, stud buttons are difficult to remove without compromising the fabric's integrity. They are made of two couple: the male stud couple and the female stud couple. Each couple has one front (or top) and rear (or bottom) side (the fabric goes in the middle).

Types of fabric buttons[link]

• Covered buttons are fabric-covered forms with a separate back piece that secures the fabric over the knob.
• Mandarin buttons or Frogs are knobs made of intricately knotted strings. Mandarin buttons are a key element in Mandarin dress (Qi Pao and cheongsam in Chinese), where they are closed with loops. Pairs of mandarin buttons worn as cuff links are called silk knots.
• Worked or cloth buttons are created by embroidering or crocheting tight stitches (usually with linen thread) over a knob or ring called a form.

Button sizes[link]

The size of the button depends on its use. Shirt buttons are generally small, and spaced close together, whereas coat buttons are larger and spaced further apart. Buttons are commonly measured in lignes (also called lines and abbreviated L), with 40 lignes equal to 1 inch. For example, some standard sizes of buttons are 16 lignes (10.16 mm, standard button of men's shirts) and 32 lignes (20.32 mm, typical button on suit jackets).
The American National Button Society (NBS)^[18] has its own button sizing system which divides button sizes into 'small', 'medium' and 'large'.

Buttons as containers[link]

Since at least the seventeenth century, when box-like metal buttons were constructed especially for the purpose,^[19] buttons have been one of the items in which drug smugglers have attempted to hide and transport illegal substances. At least one modern smuggler has tried to use this method.^[20]

Also making use of the storage possibilities of metal buttons, during the World Wars, British and U.S. military locket buttons were made, containing miniature working compasses.^[21]

Buttons in politics[link]

Historically, buttons are a very important part of Western and Near-Eastern culture. They were valued by many European groups for practical and lucrative reasons. Buttons can range from crude buttons made at home out of wood to modern, cheaply made plastic buttons to highly decorative and ornate buttons of precious materials. They are so revered in certain parts of the world that there are some countries where it is illegal to destroy a button.

The mainly American tradition of politically significant clothing buttons appears to have begun with the first presidential inauguration of George Washington in 1789. Known to collectors as 'Washington Inaugurals',^[22] they were made of copper, brass or Sheffield plate, in large sizes for coats and smaller sizes for breeches.^[23] Made in twenty-two patterns and hand-stamped, they are of course now extremely valuable cultural artifacts.

Between about 1840 and 1916, clothing buttons were used in American political campaigns, and still exist in collections today. Initially, these buttons were predominantly made of brass (though horn and rubber buttons with stamped or moulded designs also exist) and had loop shanks. Around 1860 the badge or pin-back style of construction, which replaced the shanks with long pins, probably for use on lapels and ties, began to appear.^[24]

One common practice that survived until recent times on campaign buttons and badges was to include the image of George Washington with that of the candidate in question.

Some of the most famous campaign buttons are those made for Abraham Lincoln. Memorial buttons commemorating Lincoln's inaugurations and other life events, including his birth and death, were also made, and are also considered highly collectable.^[25]

See also[link]

• Button collecting
• Campaign button
• Snap fastener
• Zipper

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Buttons (clothing)

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Bunch, Bryan (2004). The History of Science and Technology. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. p. 784. ISBN 978-0-618-22123-3. http://www.amazon.com/History-Science-Technology-Discoveries-Inventions/dp/0618221239/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268403791&sr=1-1. 
• Kohler, Carl (1963). A History of Costume. USA: Dover. p. 464. ISBN 978-0-486-21030-8. http://store.doverpublications.com/0486210308.html. 
• Luscomb, Sally C. (2003). The Collector's Encyclopedia of Buttons (5th ed.). Atglen, PA: Schiffer. ISBN 0-7643-1815-2. http://lccn.loc.gov/2003101645. 
• Osborne, Peggy A. (1997). Button, button : identification and price guide. Atglen, PA: Schiffer. p. 167. ISBN 0-7643-0082-2. http://lccn.loc.gov/92063104. 
• Peacock, Primrose (1978). Discovering old buttons. Discovering series ; no. 213. Rosemary Godsell (illus.). Aylesbury, UK: Shire Publications. p. 76. ISBN 0-85263-445-5. http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/9101082. 
• Wisniewski, Debra J. (1997). Antique & collectible buttons : identification & values. Charley Lynch. Paducah, KY: Collector Books. p. 168. ISBN 0-89145-711-9. http://lccn.loc.gov/97122120. 

External links[link]

• Button-making in Birmingham, England in the 1800s
• Scans of original 1830-1940 US patents for buttons & related tools & machinery
• Online collection of historical buttons at the Button Museum

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Jenson Button

Button at the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix
Born	(1980-01-19) 19 January 1980 (age 32) Frome, England, United Kingdom
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
2012 team	McLaren-Mercedes
2012 car #	3
Races	216 (214 starts)
Championships	1 (2009)
Wins	13
Podiums	45
Career points	856
Pole positions	7
Fastest laps	7
First race	2000 Australian Grand Prix
First win	2006 Hungarian Grand Prix
Last win	2012 Australian Grand Prix
Last race	2012 Monaco Grand Prix
2011 position	2nd (270 pts)

Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE (born 19 January 1980) is a British Formula One driver currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 World Drivers' Champion for Brawn GP.

Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British Formula Three Championship. He first drove in Formula One with the Williams team for the 2000 season. The following year he switched to Benetton, which in 2002 became Renault, and then for the 2003 season he moved to BAR. They were subsequently renamed Honda for the 2006 season, during which Button won his first Grand Prix in Hungary, after 113 races.^[1]

Following the withdrawal of Honda from the sport in December 2008, he was left without a drive for the 2009 season, until Ross Brawn led a management buyout of the team in February 2009, and Button suddenly found himself in a highly competitive, Mercedes-engined car. He went on to win a record-equalling six of the first seven races of the 2009 season, securing the World Drivers' Championship at the Brazilian Grand Prix, having led on points all season; his success also helped Brawn GP to secure the World Constructors' Championship. For 2010, he moved to McLaren, partnering fellow British racer and former World Champion Lewis Hamilton. After finishing fifth for the team in 2010, Button finished the 2011 season as runner-up.

Early life and career[link]

Button was born on 19 January 1980 in Frome, Somerset and brought up in nearby Vobster.^[2] He was named after his father's friend Erling Jensen, changing the "e" to an "o" to differentiate it from Jensen Motors.^[3] He was educated at Vallis First School, Selwood Middle School and Frome Community College.^[4] He is the fourth child of South African-born Simone Lyons and former Rallycross driver John Button, who was well known in the UK during the 1970s for his so-called Colorado Beetle Volkswagen. After his parents divorced when he was seven, he and his three elder sisters were brought up by their mother in Frome.^[3] He failed his first driving test for getting too close to a parked vehicle.^[4]

Button began karting at the age of eight, after his father bought him his first kart, and made an extraordinarily successful start. In 1989, aged nine, he came first in the British Super Prix.^[5] He won all 34 races of the 1991 British Cadet Kart Championship, along with the title.^[6] Further successes followed, including three triumphs in the British Open Kart Championship. In 1997, he won the Ayrton Senna Memorial Cup, and also became the youngest driver ever to win the European Super A Championship.^[5]

Aged 18, Button moved into car racing, winning the British Formula Ford Championship with Haywood Racing; he also triumphed in the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch.^[7] At the end of 1998, he won the annual McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award. His prize included a test in a McLaren Formula One car, which he received at the end of the following year.^[8] Button entered the British Formula Three Championship in 1999, with the Promatecme team. He won three times —at Thruxton, Pembrey and Silverstone—and finished the season as the top rookie driver, and third overall.^[7] He finished fifth and second respectively in the Marlboro Masters and Macau Grand Prix, losing out by 0.035 seconds to winner Darren Manning in the latter.^[7]

Formula One career[link]

2000: Williams[link]

Button's Williams FW22 at the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition.

At the end of 1999, Button had his McLaren test prize at Silverstone, and also tested for the Prost team. A vacant race seat became available at the Williams team, following the departure of Alex Zanardi, and team boss Frank Williams arranged a 'shoot-out' test between Button and Formula 3000 racer Bruno Junqueira, with Button securing the drive.^[6] This made him Britain's youngest ever Formula One driver.^[9] Button was heavily hyped before his first race: former driver Gerhard Berger described him as a "phenomenon"; the head of his karting team, Paul Lemmens, compared him to Ayrton Senna; and Williams' technical director Patrick Head said he was "remarkably mature and definitely a star of the future".^[10] However some had misgivings about his lack of experience and ability to cope with the pressures of Formula One.^[10]

Making his début in Australia, Button crashed during practice and qualified second-last on the grid. However, he performed strongly in the race and was set to score a point before his engine failed 11 laps from the finish.^[11][12] A sixth-place finish at the next race in Brazil made him, at the time, the youngest driver ever to score a point.^[13] In his first six races, he outqualified his teammate Ralf Schumacher twice, and was consistently close in pace; journalist David Tremayne described Button's start as "the stuff of any team owner's wildest dreams".^[13] However, Williams had intended to use Button only until they could exercise their option to buy the highly rated Juan Pablo Montoya out of his contract at Ganassi Racing.^[14] A dip in Button's form, combined with Montoya's victory in that year's Indianapolis 500, led to Montoya being announced as his replacement midway through the season. Williams chose not to sell Button's contract, keeping the right to recall him in 2003. He went to Benetton on a two-year loan.^[15]

Button's best qualification of the season was third place in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps; and his best result was fourth in the German Grand Prix.^[16] Despite the worries about his inexperience, he made few mistakes during the season, the most notable coming in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Under safety car conditions Button swerved to avoid the pack which had bunched up, and subsequently crashed into the barrier; he blamed Michael Schumacher who had been leading at the time (and so controlling the pace), and Schumacher apologised for it after the race.^[17] Button finished his impressive debut season in eighth place with 12 points (Ralf Schumacher finished fifth with 24).^[18][19][20]

2001: Benetton[link]

Button at the 2001 French Grand Prix driving for Benetton.

For 2001, Button partnered experienced driver Giancarlo Fisichella at Benetton, which had recently been purchased by Renault. He endured a dismal season: the Benetton car was very uncompetitive and he was consistently outperformed by his teammate.^[21] He finished 17th in the Drivers' Championship with only 2 points, with his best result being fifth place at the German Grand Prix.^[22] His poor form led to speculation he would be replaced before the end of the year;^[21] team principal Flavio Briatore said, "Either he shows he's super-good or he leaves the top echelon of drivers",^[23] and reportedly offered him the chance to walk.^[24] Button believed that his inexperience showed as he struggled to help his team set-up a competitive car.^[24] His lack of success combined with an extravagant lifestyle led some to dub him a "playboy".^[25][26]

2002: Renault[link]

In 2002, Benetton was rebranded as Renault F1, and Jarno Trulli joined the team to partner Button. Over the winter break, Button spent a lot of time working with his engineering team and felt there was an improved understanding between them; he described himself as "very confident" for the season.^[23] He started well: in the second race of the season in Malaysia, he was on track for his first podium before a suspension problem in the final laps dropped him to fourth place.^[27] Button's performances were greatly improved from the previous season's; although often outqualified by Trulli, he showed the faster race pace to outscore his more experienced teammate.^[28] Despite Button's performances, and his desire to stay with Renault,^[29] it was announced at the French Grand Prix that he would make way in 2003 for test driver Fernando Alonso.^[28] Briatore faced criticism for his decision, but stated "time will tell if I am wrong";^[30] he would also accuse Button of being a "lazy playboy".^[31] In July, Button signed a two-year contract with a two-year option for British American Racing, partnering 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve.^[32] An important factor in his decision was the chance to work with David Richards, the BAR team principal.^[32] He finished the season seventh with 14 points, one place and 5 points ahead of Trulli.^[33]

2003–2005: BAR[link]

2003[link]

Button faced early hostility from new teammate Villeneuve, who suggested that Button had been hired for his marketing appeal more than his ability, and compared him to a "member of a boy band". Button responded by denying he had anything to prove to Villeneuve; "I am not here to earn Jacques' respect, I am here to win and move the team forward".^[34] Their relationship did not improve after the first Grand Prix in Australia: Villeneuve was due to pit, but stayed out an extra lap and pitted when Button was due in, leaving Button waiting in the pit lane while Villeneuve's car was serviced. Villeneuve blamed it on "radio problems", but both Button and team principal David Richards hinted that they did not believe him.^[35] Button performed well in the first six races, scoring eight points (the points system had changed that year to award points to the top eight finishers), including fourth place at the Austrian Grand Prix; Villeneuve had scored only three.^[36] Button crashed heavily at 185 mph (298 km/h) during Saturday practice in Monaco, briefly knocking him unconscious, and he was detained in hospital overnight.^[37] Despite the accident Button still wanted to race, but was withdrawn by his team on medical advice.^[38] He also missed a one-day test in Monza, but was cleared to race in the following Grand Prix in Montreal.^[39] Button continued to outperform his teammate (although Villeneuve suffered a large number of mechanical problems), and this helped rebuild his previously faltering reputation.^[40] Just before the final race in Japan, Villeneuve lost his seat at BAR, so Button was partnered with Takuma Sato;^[41] he took his second fourth place for the season, and finished ninth in the Drivers' Championship with 17 points.^[42]

Button behind the wheel for BAR at the 2004 United States Grand Prix.

2004[link]

The 2004 season was the first in which Button was the more experienced driver in his team. He was ambitious for the season, saying: "This year I could be a front-runner. We want to run alongside the top teams. I want to be consistently in the points and on the podium."^[43] He took his first ever podium in the second race of the season—third-place at the Malaysian Grand Prix—saying afterwards, "There are no words to describe the feeling of your first podium".^[44] He followed it up two weeks later with another third-place in Bahrain. In the next race at Imola, he took his first pole position and finished second behind Michael Schumacher.^[45] His results for the season were impressive: he took 10 podiums in 18 races, and failed to score points in only three.^[46] Button came third in the Drivers' Championship, behind the two utterly dominant Ferrari drivers, and helped BAR to take second in the Constructors' Championship.

In August, Button became embroiled in a contract dispute. On 5 August, Button chose to leave BAR and signed a two-year contract to return to Williams.^[47] This was surprising, as Button was enjoying his best season to date, while Williams had been struggling.^[48] BAR, however, insisted they had the right to exercise their option to keep Button. Button's management argued that the BAR option was not valid because it contained a clause allowing him to leave if BAR risked losing their Honda engines. They felt the new contract signed in the summer for Honda to supply engines to BAR was not definitive, and thus Button was free to move.^[48][49] The dispute went to Formula One's Contract Recognition Board, who ruled in favour of BAR on 20 October, forcing Button to stay with the team.^[49] Two of the men at the centre of the dispute were soon removed from their positions: team principal David Richards was replaced by Nick Fry after Honda bought 45 percent of the BAR business;^[50] and Button separated from his manager John Byfield, saying he had been badly advised.^[51]