Just for a bit of fun I thought you might enjoy these 10 button related nuggets...
1. The first buttons were actually used as more as ornaments or seals rather than fastenings
2. the earliest known button was found at Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley. It is made of a curved shell and is about 5000 years old
3. Buttons are measured in Lignes (pronounced Lines) and abbreviated L. 40 Lignes = 1 inch (approx)
4. During the World Wars, buttons were made containing miniature working compasses
5. The button and buttonhole arrived in Europe about 1200AD when the Crusaders brought the idea back from the Turks and Mongols.
6. In 1250 the French aristocracy passed laws restricting the use of decorative buttons so that only cloth covered buttons could be used by the peasantry.
7. In the 16th Century buttons were condemned as sinful by the Puritans
8. Louis XIV adored his buttons and his troops all wore silver coloured bone buttons on their tunics
9. The most popular button of the 19th Century, was the black glass button, which was mainly pearl-shaped. This was made for the masses in response to Queen Victoria’s usage of black jet buttons - mourning buttons - following the death of Prince Albert.
10. Even today in the USA the Amish community don't wear buttons as they consider them a sign of pride
1 comment:
I guess all us button fetishists will be trying to drop these interesting facts in to conversation today then!!! Thanks Lauren
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