Button Up!

QUESTION: I love to linger at the cases of “smalls” at flea markets and antique shows. In fact, that’s where I first spotted an unusual little item made of sterling silver that looked as if it might have been used as a serving utensil on a Victorian table. To my surprise, the dealer said that it was a buttonhook. We don’t see these at all today, but back in the latter part of the 19th century, they were as common as shoelaces are today. Needless to say, I bought it and ever since have been on the lookout for others. So far, I’ve only found two. What can you tell me about buttonhooks and where might I be likely to find them?

ANSWER: Buttonhooks do appear from time to time at garage sales, flea markets, and antique shows. But you have to know what you’re looking for and have the patience to search for them. They’re one of those items that may be best found on the Internet where you can search specifically for them. But before you start your search, why not learn a bit about them?

Although unknown now by most people, back in the 1890s buttonhooks were a common household tool. The earliest known reference to the them dates to 1611.

In a way, buttonhooks resemble crochet hooks with handles that come in various sizes, shapes, colors and designs. They’ve been made from abalone, agate, antler, bone, brass, copper, glass, gold, gold-plate, gutta-percha, hard rubber, horn, ivory, leather, mother-of-pearl, pewter, plastic, porcelain, silver plate, sterling, tortoiseshell, wood, celluloid, bakelite and pot metal.


Buttonhooks became popular in the 1860s for buttoning shoes which commonly had between two and 26 buttons, and by 1875 "buttonhook" was a household word with almost every child having his or her very own.



The button-up shoes of the time were generally constructed of leather or serge with hand-sewn buttonholes. The buttons them-selves were frequently sewn on with heavy twisted thread which offered flexibility when sing the hook to pull them through the holes. The button-up styles lost popularity during World War I when lace-up shoes and boots became available for men and shorter, open-styled shoes for women appeared in stores.

Children's leggins or gaiters as they were often referred to were very popular in the early 1900s. Constructed of leather or cloth, the apparel rose to the child's knee or above and buttoned the full length of the garment. Needless to say, mothers loved  buttonhooks saved them time and effort.

Long gloves were another often seen accessory during this time and the number of buttons varied with the style with some exceeding 20 buttons per glove. Since many styles were designed to fit tightly on the arm, it often took 30 minutes to button them up. Many of the early buttonhooks were actually glove hooks which were often more decorative in design but not as sturdy.

Detachable collars first appeared in 1819 so that instead of changing shirts, one could simply switch collars and use the same shirt for several days. The collars, made of starched linen, rubber or celluloid, had buttonholes in the front and back attached by studs.

 Buttonhooks came in a variety of designs. One common design was a handle similar in shape to a knife handle into which a steel hook on a long slender shaft was inserted. To use the implement on a shoe, a person grasped the handle, then inserted the steel hook through the eyelet, grasping the button and pulling it through. Unfortunately, aggressive use of the buttonhook often did more harm than good as it could tear the buttonhole or pull out the button.

They were about the size of a fork although they ranged in size from less than an inch to around 2 feet long. Many had a small ring on the handle end, so a lady could attach it to her chatelaine at her belt or wear it on a necklace. Some of the folding glove hooks also had rings and could be attached to a watch chain as a fob.

Fine hotels placed plain buttonhooks in their rooms for their guests to use. Dresser sets often included plastic or celluloid hooks.

Generally, buttonhooks were in fashion from around 1880 to 1915. The Victorian love of invention led to numerous buttonhook patents and attempts to combine the buttonhook with other useful objects such as the curling iron, can opener, tobacco cutter, nail file, shoe horn, scissors, and pen knife. Folding and retractable buttonhooks were available. Most inexpensive folding ones were made of steel.

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It’s Snowing—Babies!

QUESTION: Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been fascinated by the little white porcelain figurines called “snow babies.” My mother had a number of them and would place them on the mantel above the fireplace nestled in a bed of fresh pine and holly. I can still remember handing them to her since I was too short to reach the mantel. What can you tell me about snow babies? How long have they been around? Are they collectible? If so, I’d like to start my own collection.

ANSWER: Believe it or not, snow babies have been around since the early 1890s. And, yes, they are very collectible. However, over the decades a number of different ones have been produced, not all of which are authentic. So unfortunately, it’s buyer beware.

Snow babies are small figurines, usually of a child, depicting a Christmas or winter sports activity. Like Hummel figurines, they emphasize the nostalgia of childhood and days gone by. But unlike Hummels, their manufacture wasn’t tightly controlled.

Since their introduction in the last decade of the 19th century, snow babies have enchanted collectors all over the world, especially during the holidays. They’re made of unglazed porcelain, also known as bisque, and show a children dressed in one-piece, hooded snowsuits covered in small pieces of hand-whipped crushed porcelain bisque, giving the appearance of fallen snowflakes.

The idea for snow babies evolved from early 19th-century German candy cake toppers, called tannenbaumkanfekt, used to decorate the tops of Christmas cakes and to decorate Christmas trees. Confectioners molded flour, sugar and gum for firmness into little figures, then painted them with vegetable dye. The best loved became known as zuckerpuppes or sugar dolls, which people used, along with igloos and polar bears, to create snow scenes under their Christmas trees. Later, confectioners began making them of marzipan, a mixture of crushed almonds, egg whites and sugar. They were especially popular with confectioners in Lubeck, Germany. One of them, Johann Moll, commissioned Hertwig and Company to re-create these adorable almond paste babies in porcelain bisque. The oldest ones were typically either all white with a painted face or painted in pastel colors.

Hertwig and Company began operation in 1864 in Katzhutte, Thuringia, Germany, making porcelain doll heads and bisque figures. However, the Hertwig snow babies didn’t thrill German children, who naturally preferred the candy version. But their  mothers loved them and used them to adorn their trees and homes during the Christmas season. Then they could pack them up and save them safely for another year.

The first snow babies produced by Hertwig were one to two inches tall, but the company also made some five to seven-inch ones. As production increased, Hertwig began creating snow babies in a variety of winter activities, such as sledding, skiing, and tumbling. Eventually, the company’s artists made the figures’ hands and feet more clearly defined, and even gave their little figures shoes. Although babies predominated, Hertwig produced some older children as well.

Because of Hertwig’s success, many other German companies began to produce snow babies, including Wagner and Appel, Galluba and Hoffman, Bahr and Proeschild, Christian Frederick Klurg, and the Huebach Brothers.

In 1893, Josephine Perry, wife of the famous arctic explorer Robert, shocked the world by accompanying her husband to Greenland on his famous expedition to the North Pole, even though she was expecting a child. On September 8, 1893, Marie Ahnighito Perry, the first non-indigenous baby to be born that far north. The native Intuit came for miles to see the white-skinned baby they called her Ah-pooh-nick-ananny, Inuit for snow baby.

In 1901 Mrs. Perry wrote a book showing a photograph of her daughter wearing a white snow suit and called her a “snow baby.” Suddenly, the German-made figures were in high demand. For many years the Nuremburg firm of Craemer and Co. exclusively exported the figures from Germany. In the U.S., Scholl and Company and Westphalia Imports, both of New York, sold them, as well as confectionery and baking suppliers in the German communities of New York, Philadelphia and Milwaukee. They reached their peak of export to the U.S. between 1906 and 1910 as women’s magazines featured them as Christmas decorations.

In 1910, the R. Shackman Company of New York, an importer of fancy goods, toys and novelties, advertised and distributed them at 20 cents each. In 1914, Sears and Roebuck and Marshall Field, who called them “Alaska Tots,” sold them through their catalogs.

Prior to World War I, snow babies had highly detailed faces, with the paint fired onto the porcelain so that the color would be longer lasting. Some figurines had different pastel colors of ground bisque decoration while others were left all white except for painted faces. But then the Great War began and the export of snow babies came to a sudden halt.

When production resumed after the war, snow babies were smaller, usually ranging from one to three inches tall. Although the paint used came in vibrant primary colors, snow babies now had less facial detail than previous models. The paint was also less durable and prone to flaking. Models in more varied poses appeared, including children singing Christmas carols, riding polar bears, and building snowmen. 

In the 1920s, Japanese manufacturers began to produce snow baby replicas, though they were generally of a lesser quality than those made in Germany.

The early Depression years brought a final group of snow babies from Germany. People once again used them to create Christmas scenes, as well as for package tie-ons and table decorations. There were babies riding airplanes, playing musical instruments, and riding polar bears. However, these later pieces lacked the detail of early snow babies and were less lovable, so their popularity declined during the 1930s and by the outbreak of World War II, snow baby imports stopped. Here in America, interest in snow babies declined from 1950 to the 1980s. In 1987, an American company, Department 56, began producing replicas of the original snow baby designs and had them made in Taiwan. This helped generate a new interest in them as well as in the early pieces.

Obviously, the most collectible snow babies are those produced before World War I. These generally sell for the highest prices. Any of the German ones are also collectible, but as a beginning collector, you need to be aware of cheaper versions made in Asia.

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Thanks for the Memories

QUESTION: When I was a kid, my parents used to take me to Atlantic City every summer. As I get older, my memories of those summer vacations are but vague recollections. Recently, I was browsing a local antique cooperative and came across a small, red and white cream pitcher with “From Atlantic City 1897" scratched into what looks like a red coating. Immediately, memories from those vacations from my early childhood came flooding back, so I bought it. What can you tell me about my little pitcher?

ANSWER: Obviously, your little cream pitcher dates from before your birth, but like other souvenirs of summer destinations, it’s no less important. In fact, with the coming of the railroads in the early part of the 19th century and the Industrial Revolution, middle-class Victorians took to the road, rail, and sea in great numbers. Most of them wanted to take home a souvenir of their trip, and your little cream pitcher is one of them.

One of the most popular of these were ruby-stained glass toothpick holders, tumblers, goblets, creamers and pitchers inscribed with their name or the name of the destination and the date.

Glass souvenirs did not first appear at the Philadelphia Centennial in 1876, as many believe, but much earlier. Little keepsakes had always been made in blown glass. After less expensive pressed glass appeared in 1825, owners of fairs and expositions sought out these more profitable items. Manufacturers pressed plates and tumblers with pictures of an event. But it was the smaller items, such as match and toothpick holders and little creamers and mugs that became popular. Makers often stained these pieces red or amber and engraved them with an inscription. Glass makers created thousands of these small articles for the large expositions, such as the Chicago Fair in 1893, as well as the popular county fairs.

Staining a piece of glass involved painting an already-pressed piece of clear pattern glass with a ruby-colored stain and reheating it to 1000 degrees in a kiln which turned the coating bright red. Sometimes, makers used an amber stain to decorate their pressed pieces. Pieces stained in this fashion could then be engraved with flower or leaf bands or souvenir inscriptions.

Produced in the United States from 1880 to 1920, there were eventually thousands of patterns of pressed glass that flooded the market. Makers produced many of the more popular patterns in a variety of forms. They combined different colors of glass and different decorating techniques to produce hundreds of thousands of pieces of glass. People would purchase a piece of blank stained glass at an event or travel destination and could then have it personalized with their name and date.

One of the more popular ruby stained patterns, Button Arches, introduced originally around 1898, continued in production until the 1960s and 1970s. The design consisted of slightly overlapping pointed arches around the bottom edges and covers of pieces, each arch containing tightly packed "buttons."  Made in clear, clear with ruby staining and gold-stained bands, collectors can find this pattern highlighted with souvenir inscriptions.

In the late 1890s, the U.S. Glass Co., a consortium of smaller companies, came up with the idea of marketing a series of glass patterns named after the various states. Though a few of these patterns were new to the series, some were reissues of earlier lines reintroduced as part of this line. The state series continued through the turn-of-the-century. Most of the state patterns featured geometric or imitation cut-glass designs, but a few had a plant and flower motif that added to their appeal.  Obviously, state patterned glass was popular as a souvenir from the state for which the pattern was named.
   
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