Making a charm string of buttons was a popular 19th century past time. Finding just the right button was considered to be a sign of good luck. To build such a string, the lady could not use purchased buttons, but rather must use buttons gifted from family, friends and supporters. In the act of stringing buttons together she was not only collecting wishes and luck, but was also creating family stories and friendships.
Some said that the lady who had collected 999 buttons would meet her true love upon adding just one more button to the string. Tink of it – roughly calculating the size of each button as about ½” in diameter, a loosely bound string of a thousand buttons might be more than 25 feet long!
A beautiful charm string was surely an attraction in a 19 century friends and family gathering which helped to spark conversation as well as encourage more button donations.
An eye-catching Victorian Style button charm string will be presented at TSBS 2020 Spring Show in Dallas as Grand Prize. Currently, members of Big “D” Button Club are soliciting donations to create this special string of “lucky buttons”.
Please consider donating your Victorian Style old buttons (with shank) to support the Texas State Button Society fund raising.
Frederica Braidfoot
1219 Belclaire Lane, Irving, TX 75060
Thank you for your support,
Big “D” Button Club
