Came in a Biscuit Tin

Buffum collection, inventory #64

Purchased October 17, 2013 from Southern Pines, NC. This string was bought at an estate sale and was in a tall cylinder metal canister labeled Ontario Biscuit Company and had once contained chocolate wafers. There was a note in the can stating the string had belonged to “Aunt Hattie who had passed away at age 90 in 1944”. Aunt Hattie had been born in 1854 and these buttons date from the early to mid 1800’s. There are approximatelt 415 buttons on the string. They were shipped as found at the estate sale in the canister with the note and a card with two amazing stud buttons. The string had been tied in a loop when found but the string broke during shipping. I left as much of the buttons on the original string as possible, reinforcing that string with a running waxed linen cord through as many of the shanks as possible, and restrung the buttons that had fallen off the broken string. Light cleaning was done to remove the grime of age and some green on the brass and rust on the steels. An amazing string!

Buttons include brass fur trader type ball buttons medium and small, chinas, diminutives in vegetable ivory, glass, brass and steel, shoebuttons, square bird hard rubber (Goodyear bm), gilts, medium watchcase Golden Age (bm Superior Extra Rich), MOP set in brass, brass with shield (bm Best Rich ….Gilt), large black dyed embossed horn, military (bm Scoville Waterbury), Civil War Infantry brass eagle button, dyed black horn in brass rim, purple glass faceted with brass escutcheon top, hard white pewter (bm prichard’s Hard White), charmstring glass, waistcoats with goldstone and plain glass insets, three waistcoats with patterned fabric insets, drums with glass insets, veg ivory ball, brass otter with floral border 9bm Superior Extra Rich), brass flower (bm Leavenworth Co Extra), Golden Age with large square pattern of dots on surface (bm R&W Robinson Extra Rich), four watchcase plain border brass hunt buttons, all large– horse, two different dogsm deer (bm Hammond Turner & Sons with a crown above Extra Quality),medium embossed dyed black horn with morning glories design, hard rubber flower (bm N.R. Co. Goodyear’s P=T May 6, 1851), Berdan’s Sharpshooters hard rubber button, ball buttons, small twinkle with brass screen domed top, gilt  flat bordered flower(bm Waterbury MG Co Extra), small brass saddled horse (bm Extra Super Feine), Golden Age square in circle small dots (bm Wadhams Coe Co), shaped flat steels, shaped steel flower, Golden Age flower (bm Rich Gold Colour), small copper (?) sun, round blue fabric and brass veil button, large oval black fabric and brass veil button, large pressed horn (bm Cox Patent), tombac, small black beaded ball button, brass openwork knot button, pin shank domed hard rubber button (medium), small brass acorn. The touch button on this string is a very large oval cameo with celluloid border. This string is beautiful and old.