DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1311#0205
172 THE GREAT EXHIBITION
method of gilding tLe buttons. The trade called it French gildings the workmen
named it ?* slap-dash." It made the buttons look remarkably brilliant for a very little
while, but they tarnished almost immediately, even before the retailers could sell them;
and if placed in all their brightness on a new coat, they looked shabby in a fortnight.
This discovery—perhaps it is refining too much to suppose that it was introduced by
a friend to the Florentine button—fatally and finally damaged the metallic cause, by
casting discredit upon the whole manufacture : people left off ordering brass buttons,
and by 1840 the trade was again ruined. A second attempt at obtaining illustrious
intervention was made: Prince Albert was assailed by a deputation, and the sympathies
of the press were invoked by the metal buttonist. But the charm would not work
twice, and you never see a gilt button now except upon the terribly high-collared coat of
some terribly devoteel adherent to old fashions, who may be observed nestling in the
corner of the stage box on first nights, and who, if he speaks to you, is sure to growl out
the unreasonable intimation, that "You ought to have seen Joe Mimden, sir, in a
character like this. Munden, sir, was an actor." Except the buttons required for the
military and naval services, and for " Jeames," the metal article is out of date, and
covered buttons have it all their own way. The Florentine or covered button was first
introduced into Birmingham in 1820, and it derives its name from the Florentine cloth
with which it is covered. It is composed of five pieces: first, the cover of Florentine
cloth or silk ; second, a disc of metal, which gives the shape to the button; third, a some-
what smaller disc of brown pasteboard or wadding; fourth, a disc of coarse black
linen or calico; and fifth, a disc of metal, from which an inner circle has been punched
out, so that the cloth or calico above may slightly protrude, and form a shank of the
button. Young girls cut the various discs with a punching machine, and the last
operation is to place the five pieces in regular order in a small machine constructed to
hold them—an arrangement carried out by a number of little children under a woman's
superintendence; and then this machine, which has been compared to a dice-box, is
brought under a press, which, with a touch, fastens the whole bottom together with a
neatness and a completeness to which any one who will examine his coat-button can be
witness.
Horn buttons are made from the hoofs of horned cattle : those of horses are not
available for the purpose. The hoofs are boiled until soft, and cut into halves; then
" blanks" are punched out. The blanks are placed in vats containing a strong dye,
red, green, or black, and the shank is next fixed in. The button is then placed
in a mould, where the under surface is stamped with the maker's name. A dozen
moulds are put into an iron box, and heated over an oven until the horn is as soft as
wax, and then an upper mould with the pattern for the top of the button is pressed
down, fitting close to the lower mould. The moulds having been placed in the press,
and submitted to its action, the buttons are complete, except that the rough edges
require paring. Brushes, worked by steam, then run over and polish the buttons, and
they are ready for the sorter. There were numerous beautiful specimens of these buttons
in the cases to which we shall presently refer. There are still many other kinds of
buttons to be noted. The pearl button gives employment to 2,000 people in Birming-
ham alone. We must not forget glass buttons, with which it was lately the pleasure
of admiring mothers to sprinkle their little boys very profusely, and which are also
much in demand for exportation to the African chiefs, who have the true barbarian
love of glitter. There are two sorts, the round and the knob-shaped. The former are
made of sheet glass, of various colours, and coated with lead, which is cut by hand into
small squares, the corners of which are rounded with scissors, and the edges are ground
on a wheel. The shank is then fastened; it is joined to a round piece of zinc, the
method of gilding tLe buttons. The trade called it French gildings the workmen
named it ?* slap-dash." It made the buttons look remarkably brilliant for a very little
while, but they tarnished almost immediately, even before the retailers could sell them;
and if placed in all their brightness on a new coat, they looked shabby in a fortnight.
This discovery—perhaps it is refining too much to suppose that it was introduced by
a friend to the Florentine button—fatally and finally damaged the metallic cause, by
casting discredit upon the whole manufacture : people left off ordering brass buttons,
and by 1840 the trade was again ruined. A second attempt at obtaining illustrious
intervention was made: Prince Albert was assailed by a deputation, and the sympathies
of the press were invoked by the metal buttonist. But the charm would not work
twice, and you never see a gilt button now except upon the terribly high-collared coat of
some terribly devoteel adherent to old fashions, who may be observed nestling in the
corner of the stage box on first nights, and who, if he speaks to you, is sure to growl out
the unreasonable intimation, that "You ought to have seen Joe Mimden, sir, in a
character like this. Munden, sir, was an actor." Except the buttons required for the
military and naval services, and for " Jeames," the metal article is out of date, and
covered buttons have it all their own way. The Florentine or covered button was first
introduced into Birmingham in 1820, and it derives its name from the Florentine cloth
with which it is covered. It is composed of five pieces: first, the cover of Florentine
cloth or silk ; second, a disc of metal, which gives the shape to the button; third, a some-
what smaller disc of brown pasteboard or wadding; fourth, a disc of coarse black
linen or calico; and fifth, a disc of metal, from which an inner circle has been punched
out, so that the cloth or calico above may slightly protrude, and form a shank of the
button. Young girls cut the various discs with a punching machine, and the last
operation is to place the five pieces in regular order in a small machine constructed to
hold them—an arrangement carried out by a number of little children under a woman's
superintendence; and then this machine, which has been compared to a dice-box, is
brought under a press, which, with a touch, fastens the whole bottom together with a
neatness and a completeness to which any one who will examine his coat-button can be
witness.
Horn buttons are made from the hoofs of horned cattle : those of horses are not
available for the purpose. The hoofs are boiled until soft, and cut into halves; then
" blanks" are punched out. The blanks are placed in vats containing a strong dye,
red, green, or black, and the shank is next fixed in. The button is then placed
in a mould, where the under surface is stamped with the maker's name. A dozen
moulds are put into an iron box, and heated over an oven until the horn is as soft as
wax, and then an upper mould with the pattern for the top of the button is pressed
down, fitting close to the lower mould. The moulds having been placed in the press,
and submitted to its action, the buttons are complete, except that the rough edges
require paring. Brushes, worked by steam, then run over and polish the buttons, and
they are ready for the sorter. There were numerous beautiful specimens of these buttons
in the cases to which we shall presently refer. There are still many other kinds of
buttons to be noted. The pearl button gives employment to 2,000 people in Birming-
ham alone. We must not forget glass buttons, with which it was lately the pleasure
of admiring mothers to sprinkle their little boys very profusely, and which are also
much in demand for exportation to the African chiefs, who have the true barbarian
love of glitter. There are two sorts, the round and the knob-shaped. The former are
made of sheet glass, of various colours, and coated with lead, which is cut by hand into
small squares, the corners of which are rounded with scissors, and the edges are ground
on a wheel. The shank is then fastened; it is joined to a round piece of zinc, the