Enjoy the Art of Buttons in San Angelo

SAN ANGELO, TX - Did you know that after stamps and coins, buttons are the third most popular collectible in the U.S.? There are all kinds of buttons: plastic, metal, glass, and even some made out of materials some of us have never even heard of.  For button enthusiasts – and also for collectors, quilters, crafters, re-enactors, and fashion designers – thousands of buttons, old and new, will be on display and for sale this Saturday, October 1, right here in San Angelo. 

San Angelo's own West Texas Button Club will host the Texas State Button Society’s Fall Workshop and Show, which will be held at the Trinity Lutheran Church, 3536 Lutheran Way. WTBC is one of 10 active clubs associated with TSBS. This fall's event is one of two annual, statewide TSBS events. Some of the clubs taking part in this one will travel from Houston, San Antonio, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Waco and Austin.

Shirley Thomas is the president of the Texas State Button Society and speculated there are around 200 members currently. For their events, Texas clubs rotate between cities so all have the opportunity to travel. A lot of people will take an extra day or two to just enjoy the sites of the cities they visit.

"I've been collecting buttons for the last decade and just love it," said Thomas. "Ours is a society of button lovers who study the history and the making of the button--the whole concept of why the button came to be in the first place." 

Additionally, Thomas explained, "In the 1800's, when Queen Victoria went into her mourning period and wore nothing but jet black, the poor people couldn't afford it so they started using black glass to imitate it. They went through the same period of mourning with the changing of the intensity of the shine and the glitz and all that. During war time, we got into all the plastics and have learned all about different lights and celluloids. Anyone that comes to the show will see some beautiful examples of the old buttons, and all of the dealers are very happy to share information about the buttons. There's also many opportunities to see what all is going on in the workshops."

Thomas also said there will be an event called Creative Mounting where members will bring at least one 9" x 12" mounted button of their choice. 

"It can be about any topic (for example the American Flag), and then they will give a brief presentation on it," Thomas said.

Thomas gave another example of a hunting theme where the participant might have deer and/or hunting rifle (buttons) on their display.

"It's up to the person what they want to do," she noted. 

Thomas said button makers will honor others this weekend.

"We had one of our long time members who passed away, and she loved anything that was glitzy, shined, and had lots of rhinestones, so we created a mounting of something that Joyce would have loved," she said. "We all had all these glitzy buttons on and knew she would have appreciated that." 

Thomas added that another fun thing the button collectors do is meet in the spring in Waco for a big competition.

"The fall workshop is a more let's sit down and talk. We haven't seen each other for 5 or 6 months; it' a very relaxed atmosphere," Thomas said. "If people would like to bring buttons to have them looked at, we have a lot of collectors who could tell them more about them, for example old wartime, Army or Navy buttons." 

As far as what kinds of buttons that are the most popular, she said, "We go by materials and categories, for example, pictorial buttons. Pictorial buttons would have some kind of picture on it. It might be something in ladies wearing apparel or men or children only."

Additionally, Thomas said glass is very popular, from black glass to clear or colored glass. 

"Of course, we have the metals and uniform buttons as well," she noted. "There are some people who are into the uniform buttons, but not so much into the black glass buttons." 

There's even a category of buttons the makers will have called Whistle. 

"These are the ones with two holes in the back of the button and one in the front," Thomas explained.

She said she can't understand why they don't still make them because they make sense. With these buttons, the top thread is protected, not rubbing all the time, and less likely to come off.

"To me, it's a smart button, especially on children's clothes as they come home with the buttons missing because the threads have worn out," Thomas said.  

Overall, TSBS encourages and promotes interest in collecting buttons for educational and historical purposes, for personal enjoyment, and to preserve for future generations all that is beautiful and historical in buttons. All are invited to view, learn, and discover vintage and collectible buttons, which are actually works of art in miniature that utilize all the materials and techniques employed in larger artwork.

Doors will open to the public at 10 a.m., and the event will run until 4 p.m. This is a family-friendly event and admission is free to the public. Browsers and the simply curious are invited to explore the history, usage and construction of these works of art.