Every Button Has a Story

Barbara A. Preston | October 6, 2022

Are you a collector? Did you love poking into your grandmother’s button box? The New Jersey State Button Society (NJSBS) offers nine opportunities to discover the fascination of collectible clothing buttons this month.

Barbara Figge Fox of Skillman with “The Complete Button Book.”

Button collector Barbara Figge Fox of Skillman says: “Whether you are fascinated with their artistic quality, want to examine their construction, or seek to delve into their history, you will discover that every button has a story.”

Princeton Adult School

Fox will lead a class on the world’s smallest antique at the Princeton Adult School, on Tuesday, October 11 at 7 pm. Fox is president of the New Jersey State Button Society, founded in 1941 when a nationwide interest in button collecting was surging. The class fee of $35 includes ‘take-home’ vintage and antique buttons for a Button Sampler.

For information call 609.683.1101, email buttonsinnewjersey@gmail.com or visit princetonadultschool.org.

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On-line Workshop

A three-session online introductory workshop on Victorian-era black glass buttons starts Sunday, October 16 at 4 pm. To this study, NJSBS welcomes Idaho-based historians Joan Lindsay and Simone Kincaid, authors of the definitive book on the subject, published by the National Button Society. For information, email buttonsinnewjersey@gmail.com or call 609.468.2195.

More October Button Events

Also in October, those interested in finding out more about collecting buttons may attend free in-person meetings and virtual workshops.

On Monday, October 17 at 7 pm, the Mercer County Buttoniers meet at the Lawrence Branch of the Mercer County Library, 2751 Brunswick Pike in Lawrence.

On Thursday, October 19 at 1:15 pm, the Central Jersey Buttoniers meet in Bridgewater at the Somerset County Library.

A button club also meets at Stonebridge at Montgomery in Skillman.