Fairy Tales, Fables, and Button Art

Posted May 1, 2023

With the theme of fairy tales and fables, the New Jersey State Button Society (NJSBS) will present its spring show and competition at the Union Fire Company Fire Company and Rescue Squad Hall, 1396 River Road (Route 29), in Titusville on Saturday, May 13 from 9 am to 3 pm. Admission is free, and the public is invited.

Antique buttons made from enamel, glass, metal, and ivory, plus a variety of modern buttons, will be on display and also available for purchase.

Button Artist Nancy DuBois.

This year a button favor has been exclusively designed and curated for the NJSBS by New Jersey artist and button collector, Nancy DuBois. She has been creating buttons for 25 years with techniques such as sculpting and carving, watch-crystal button construction, scrimshaw, cameo carving, reverse carving, and flame working. She and her husband Skip raise cattle and Muscovy ducks on their Salem County farm.

The first 25 people who come to the show will receive one of her limited-quantity studio buttons featuring buttonbush flowers, a deciduous shrub native to New Jersey. “We have buttonbushes on our property and they have always fascinated me,” said DuBois. “So, it seemed like a fun project to make a ‘fun’ button about it.”

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NJSBS members study, collect, and enjoy garment buttons. Shows in May and September are held at the Union Fire Company and Rescue Squad Hall, 1396 River Road (Route 29), Titusville. For information, go to NewJerseyStateButtonSociety.com or email: buttonsinnewjersey@gmail.com or call 609.468.2195.

Red Riding Hood on a button.