“To start…first tie a string to a large button”

by Terri Horton

Excerpt from California State Button Society Button Brief, Spring 2010

Reprinted with permission from the author

“Charmed, I’m sure”, “it’s charming”, “she charmed him”, “charm school”, “prince charming”…the word “charm” has many implications.  The Merriman-Webster Dictionary gives us several definitions for “charm”—“1. An act or expression believed to have magic power, 2.  Something worn about the person to ward off evil or bring good fortune, 3.  A trait that fascinates or allures, 4.  Physical grace or attraction, 5.  A small ornament worn on a bracelet or chain” and for “charming”—“greatly pleasing to the mind or senses”. [1]  In the button collecting world, a charm string certainly fascinates, could be thought to resemble a charm bracelet, and definitely is pleasing to the mind or senses!

In 1939 one author wrote “Sixty years ago, small girls vied with each other to see which could add the greatest number and most beautiful buttons to a long string, known as a “charm”, “love”, or “memory” string.  The idea was to collect 999, and the owner would see her future husband.  But woe betide if inadvertently more were added, for that would be a fateful sign of spinsterhood.  There was also a game called “touch button” in which the owner of a string of buttons would designate in her own mind a certain button.  If her friend touched it the owner received the handsomest button from the friend’s string.” [2]  “The fad of making button strings started in the 1860s…[and] remained popular until 1900”. [3]

In our button literature there are many references to charm string-type buttons and to lore that surrounded creating a charm string, but few about specific charm strings….

As Sally Luscomb says of charm strings in The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Buttons “To start…first tie a string to a large button.”  It is wonderful to speculate about the strings we own, but even better to know the real story.  The historical documentation by the Charm String Museum is a wonderful resource.  At the time the above article was published, I included a photograph of an identified young girl who is holding her prized charm string and appears to be in bed, propped up on pillows.   It is reprinted here with the permission of the owner, The Thanatos Archive, in hopes that someone knows her story.

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[1] The Merriman-Webster Dictionary,  New York: Pocket Books, August 1974

[2] Crummet, Button Collecting, Chicago: Lightner Publishing Co., 1939, p. 111

[3] Luscomb, The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Buttons, New York: Bonanza Books, 1967, p. 38

A Hidden Letter

by Renee Comeau
Reprinted from the Summer 2010 California State Button Society Button Brief

A few years ago, I bid on and won a pretty velvet-lined antique jewelry display case that had a charm string of buttons in it. The case was from the Jane Ford Adams collection and our San Diego Button Club was having a little auction of buttons. The inside of the case needed some repair, so I put it aside to repair later. A longtime member of our San Diego Button Club, Joan Helton, who seems to find just about anything in sewing notions and material that a club member needs, found an old piece of velvet to match the piece I needed to make the repair. Inspired one day to get off my duff and accomplish some long overdue tasks, I started the repair. When I removed the damaged velvet liner, I discovered some old letters hidden inside. The letters, written in 1941, were from an antique book dealer in Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Foster’s Book Shop) to Jane about an old Southern Charm String that he had (and later negotiated by Jane to have him send it to her).

It seems that, in exchange for some books that Jane had sent to him, he was prepared to send her the Charm String, but his mother was having sentimental fits over the thought of him selling it or giving it away. The ‘charming’ letter, at one point in the text states “the Charm String has brought down dire threats on my head, from no other person that My Dear and respected Mother, the more I hear of this damn string of buttons. It was played with by her Mother, most respected Lady, the wife of Capt. Martin, another illustrious Ancestor that I have not lived up to and before that, my most respected Grand-Mother, Magee. My Mother is a perfect dear and truly she does not get damn wrought up, but the Charm String, it’s a bit too personal, perhaps not worth a darn, I don’t know.”

And in the other of the two letters, “I certainly won’t think of keeping your books and the Charm string has not disrupted the house-hole [yes, ‘hole’ not ‘hold’]. Mother is not any sentimental idiot either; she is and had been a collector all her life. I told you that this old house was over-flowing with antiques and a little bit of everything else. She knows not what I will bring home next. Anyway, I have persuaded her to allow me to send the Charm string to you for appraisal, that’s fair, is it not? You see, Mother’s Mother was a Magee, a sister of Pelham’s Mother, at least the darn String should have charm, as this Sister started it long before the Civil War—enough of this—the String is being mailed. We may be all wet as to the value. Neither of us know one thing about it.”

In any event, finding the two hidden letters was really a lot of fun, and the text of the letters really 

delightful to read.

Where Have All the Charm Strings Gone?

History Corner--Where Have All the Charm Strings Gone?

by Terri Horton, CSBS Historian

As I looked through the California State Button Society (CSBS) scrapbooks last year, I noticed many wonderful newspaper articles and photographs about button collectors “back in the day”.  At first I wasn’t very interested in reading some of the “newer” scrapbooks such as those from the 1970’s and 1980’s because they are contemporary to my own life.  However, I soon realized that many contain stories about collectors who were born in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s and were the little girls who made charm strings and later grew up to be the pioneers of button collecting! 

Charm String, Heart String, Charm Necklace or simply Button Chain or Button String...I’d like to share some of the interesting scrapbook threads I unraveled from these books, and I hope that someday these clues might lead to “the rest of the story” about this special form of button collecting.

A 1943 Los Angeles Times article features a photo of Lillian Krigbaum wearing a charm string of 1000 buttons. The article tells us that “mothers used to start the strings for their daughters” and that, as we already know, these often became the start of a collection that grew well past the traditional 999.  Let’s see where some of these collections are identified in more detail.

A San Gabriel Valley area newspaper story from December 13, 1953 shows Mrs. Harry E. Walker, 80 years old, of San Dimas.  She is holding a “button string” estimated to be 100 years old.  Mrs. Walker told the reporter that some of her collection of over 5,000 buttons were from a charm string she had when she was a child. She was a member of the Helen B. Moody Button club of Santa Monica, Los Angeles Button club, California State Button Society and the National Button Society, and began collecting in 1942.  Another photo features Mr. and Mrs. Walker, married 61 years, holding the charm string.  The caption indicates that together they had over 10,000 buttons!  Also in the 1950’s scrapbook is an original photo given to the CSBS commemorating an August 19, 1956 Los Angeles Examiner article (see attached).  Mrs. Harry Walker is pictured among thousands of buttons and when you look closely you can see that one of her lamps is a adorned with a charm string!  Mrs. Walker was probably born in the 1870’s, and must have been a wonderful resource about button history.  It would be wonderful to know where the charm string is now…Are there stories recorded anywhere else?  Who is the new caretaker of the buttons? 

Mr. and Mrs. Walker

A wonderful uncredited clipping in the same book tells about former Corona mayor C. R. Miller who owned what is described as “the probable world record button charm string, which is over 50 feet long.”   The story goes on to tell about Mira Loma resident Mrs. Rosamond Watkins, seventy-nine, who gave the mayor a two foot long charm string that she made when she was 6-7 years old.  She said that “in those days…the girls used to sit on the “horse blocks” in front of their homes and trade buttons.  At that time, almost all of the little girls her age pursued the hobby”.   A photo shows the mayor and Mrs. Watkins with her charm string.  In the same scrap book, a January 18, 1953 article, perhaps from the LA Times, shows a photo of Mrs. Harry Ledig of Alta Loma and her “button chain”.  There is no further information about Mrs. Ledig, so we are also left to wonder about the history of her string.

Also in the 1950’s scrap book we learn that the National Button Show was held in Long Beach in 1953.  A photo included with that memorabilia is of a young woman named Vicki Heinzerling.  She is holding up a “heartstring of buttons found at Ft. Ticonderoga in 1870.  It recalls a maidenly 18^th century practice of stringing up to 999 buttons for the hope chest.  Button No. 1000 being added with the matrimonial conquest of a colonist.”  This is the first mention I have seen of the term “heartstring” or the claim that this was a practice as old as the 18^th century!  It is likely that there is some journalistic error in the caption, as all other references I know of link the start of this popular pastime of charm strings to the Victorian Era.

In a 1980 article about the Goleta Valley Button Club I learned that 74 year old Chris Munter had recently acquired a “prize possession”, “a button string, dating back to the days when everyone took the worth of a button for granted”.  Ms. Munter bought the string from a friend who found it in her attic.  Chris restrung it but “pulled the most exquisite buttons for her competition displays”.  Another article, from an unknown source in 1973, tells us that Bernyce Mahey from the Jacksonville area said her first “good find” was a string of over 200 buttons.  She later acquired a string of 400 buttons, but lamented that she took them both apart and that the value would have been greater if they were left intact. 

Other references tell us about Helen B. Moody of Santa Monica.  She was a member of the Los Angeles button club whose “hobby started when, as a Nebraska school teacher, her pupils rewarded her with “charm strings” of buttons.  She said, “I started to collect in earnest in 1912 when Dr. Moody and I built our Santa Monica home.”  Wouldn’t we all love to have a friend with a treasure like that in their attic?!   In a clipping from 11/11/66 we learn of Mrs. Ray Adams who “possesses a charm string of buttons, one of which is from a Confederate uniform of Civil War days”.  Finally, a more “recent” newspaper article from August 1991 says that “Members of the Sacramento Button Club really buttoned on to newcomer Kay Meier after she showed them the 7-foot-long button “charm strings” her husband brought home from an auction. Meier’s charm strings are about 100 years old”. 

The scrapbooks include some out-of-state newspaper articles that also have references to charm strings.  The Denver Post in 1956 (?) mentions Mrs. A. C. Swainson, who “started her collection about 10 years ago, using her grandmother’s charm necklace as the basis”.  And The Denver Post, 4/17/69 tells about Mrs. Louis B. Hough who “inherited a charm string from her sister.”  I wonder how many of us have plans for passing down our own special buttons.   Do those in our families know the history and importance of our collections or will our strings and boxes and frames of buttons be scattered and left unidentified and undervalued?

So, perhaps there are names here that are familiar to you.  Maybe you were a member of the Sacramento club in the 1990’s and have seen Kay’s charm string!  After all, the 1990’s weren’t THAT long ago!  Some of the CSBS button “history” is still actually fresh in our member’s minds.  However, do any of you know where the charm strings of the past are?  The 1940’s stories are now seventy years old!  I would like to challenge each of you to share photos and stories of the charm strings that you own.  We have enjoyed several recent stories in the Brief, but I am sure there are more out there.  This might even be a fun local club project.  Let’s publicly document this special piece of collecting history.   If you or your club would like to share a “charming” story, please submit it to the Button Brief editor.  We are looking forward to your help in untangling more button string stories.

Charmstring Stereoview

A Charming Imagination

When searching for stories about charm strings, I came across this intriguing stereoscopic view of a string of 3,500 buttons.  This picture, published by W. McLeish of Syracuse, New York, represents “a collection… gathered by Miss Emma J. Brown, of Truxton, N.Y.” during a two and a half year period.  The description states that Emma was an orphan and invalid, had been sick for four years and unable to walk for two years.  I thought it would be fun to try to find out more about Emma J. Brown.  Could she be the young girl pictured in bed with strings of buttons draped around her that was featured in a previous Button Brief article?

I decided to use the Ancestry.com family tree research program to try to find Emma.  Stereoviews and charm strings were both popular from 1850 to 1900, so I searched in that time frame.  I also looked for a single young woman who was orphaned and lived in the New York area.   I thought that this would be enough information to find Emma, but this became a task that was more speculative than factual.  When looking at the census should I look for an Emma J.  Brown living in the household of someone of another last name such as an aunt or grandparent, or had she been a servant in someone’s home before becoming ill.  Maybe she was listed as a boarder, or perhaps she was actually living in an orphanage or a hospital.  If she had been a servant then that would not be the girl in our previous photo.  If she was orphaned maybe someone sponsored her button charm string as a way to pay for her medical care.  Obviously I became lost among a sea of Emmas and was unable to identify the owner of this charm string, but it certainly was fun to imagine her story.

This button history search dead-ended, but we can help keep the history of our personal collections alive through documentation of their provenance.  Whether you acquire one special button or a group of them I encourage you to keep the personal string of stories intact.  Button collecting is certainly fun, but it is also a means of preserving pieces of history.  These details may not seem as important as simply enjoying each beautiful button, but when brought together they can add to our hobby by building a robust historical archive.  Don’t leave the story of your favorite buttons to the imagination…write it down now!

This article is reproduced from the California State Button Society Button Brief .

Charmstring Maintenance

Periodically, no matter how well-stored a charmstring is, it should be examined for developing conditions that might lead to buttons needing to be removed from the string, or the string simply deteriorating and the string falling apart. Things that can cause damage to a charmstring over time are extreme temperatures, high humidity, the development of rust of steel, corrosion on brass, copper and white metal, celluloid sickness and simple deterioration of string due to age.

When a string is first purchased I usually examine it very carefully for any conditions it may have that need to be addressed immediately. After counting the buttons and cataloging the string for inventory purposes my next task is to ensure the string will survive into the future. If a string has deteriorated and begun to fray or has already broken I decided if a new linen string or waxed linen string can be threaded through the buttons to help support the old string, or if the string has deteriorated too much due to poor storage in the past, if the buttons need to be restrung entirely. If a total restringing must be done I try to save as much of the old string and store that in a plastic baggie with any documentation I have gathered from the purchase of the string (invoice, bill of sale, and notes, pictures or miscellaneous items that come with the string are kept in a binder with tabs numbered to correspond with the string’s inventory number on its ‘key rag’ inventory control tag).

Next I assemble the tools of the charmstring restorer’s trade- cotton swabs, cotton pads (found in the make-up aisle). Mineral oil, Simichrome polish, a small brass bristle brush, number 2 pencil (disposable twist pencils work fine), a soft bristle tooth brush, salt, a small cup to hold water, paper towel sections, a soft cloth are in my arsenal when tackling a major button cleaning project. I lay out my tools, then spread a white hand towel on my work bench or kitchen table, which ever location I am working on the buttons. After examining the string and buttons and doing all the counting and note taking the process of carefully cleaning the buttons begins. If the original string has broken and it is not feasible to try a restringing of the original then the buttons are removed one at a time, cleaned according to material type and the restringing process begins on a new length of linen cord.

For brass buttons I generally give them a gentle brushing with the brass bristle brush to remove grim and corrosion. Cotton swabs can be used to scrub the brass and the soft bristle toothbrush can also be used to loosen caked in gunk and grime.

Glass and china buttons can generally be cleaned with a cotton swab dipped in water then blotted on a paper towel so the tip is damp, not soaking wet. Do not use a wet cotton swab on the back of a button that is reverse painted as it may remove the paint! It is usually okay to get the brass loop shanks wet as you will be wiping the button dry with a soft cloth or paper towel and then the button will be air drying as you continue cleaning the other buttons. Never immediately store buttons that have just been cleaned- they need to dry to avoid rust and corrosion!

I have found that for most MOP or shell buttons that have an accumulation of grime or deposits on them that it is okay to use a bit of table salt as a polishing compound when a bit of water is added to make a paste. Most shells come from the ocean which is salt water and can withstand the abrasive quality of a salt and water paste. If the shell button has any ornamentation or a pinshank it would be best to clean by means of another method. After cleaning the MOP or shell button a very light wipe with a cloth with a bit of mineral oil on it will restore the glow of the button. Remove any excess oil with a dry cloth or paper towel and allow to dry.

Steel buttons with a lot of rust and pitting might not be salvageable and if too far gone should be removed from the string. Some steel buttons with light rust can be salvaged with a good brushing with the brass bristle brush. If there is rust on the reverse side the number 2 pencil can be employed to scrub it off. Use cotton swabs to remove the lead residue. Polish with a bit of paper towel or a soft cloth to remove the remainder of the residue.

If the face of a button has any tint or paint on it, it is best to just lightly polish with a soft cloth and leave the natural patina of age rather than destroy the button by accidentally removing the paint.

I have not found any method of cleaning old fabric covered buttons. I generally give them a light wipe with a soft cloth and leave them alone otherwise. If anyone has any suggestions for cleaning cloth and fabric-covered buttons please share.

Silver buttons can be cleaned with silver polish.

Simichrome polish will clean Golden Age and gilt buttons nicely, but sometimes, if the design is very intricate it can clog up the face of the button with residue. Occasionally, it’s nice just to brush the button with the brass bristle brush and let it go at that.

Hard rubber buttons can be washed with water. If they look dull a light wipe with mineral oil will bring back the shine.

Horn buttons can also be lightly washed with water and then given a light wipe with mineral oil to restore them a bit. Allow them to dry thoroughly before restringing.

Vegetable ivory buttons can be cleaned with a cotton swab dipped in water and then blotted, unless the button is dyed. There may be color loss, and in that case should be lightly polish with a soft cloth.

White metal buttons and tin buttons that have corroded should be removed.

Celluloid buttons that have celluloid disease should be removed.

After all the buttons are cleaned, dry and restrung then can be stored. I keep my charmstrings in Riker boxes and store them flat to avoid as much stress on the strings as possible. If a charmstring is displayed vertically in a shadowbox or other case then there should be plenty of support provided for the string to ease the stress on it (run thin wires every two inches or so like staples through the backing. Check the charmstring at least annually for signs of stress on the string which could lead to breakage and the possibility of buttons being damaged. Try to keep the charmstrings stored in a place where the temperature does not go to extremes of hot and cold, and the humidity is also not high.

I keep a log book and record the periodic inspections of the buttons and strings I perform…usually once a year I will look at the buttons, handling them gently, and address any issues that have cropped us (rust, corrosion, disease, string fraying, etc), recording what maintenance I have performed and when.

It’s a chore but a necessary one to preserve the buttons for future generations to enjoy.

If you make the investment, or have inherited a charmstring then maintaining the buttons and the string will add to the length of time you have that string to enjoy.

I like handling the strings but bear in mind that all buttons will become fragile with age. This is especially true for kaleidoscope buttons that tend to lose their glass dome tops. (Never get a kaleidoscope button wet!). Other buttons tend to disintegrate around the embedded loop shank. Charmstrings should be handled gently, and are best handled while wearing cotton, latex or vinyl gloves to prevent the body’s natural oils from being transferred to the buttons and possibly causing damage.

If you have any additional comments or helpful hints please feel free to share them here.

Susan

A Creative Display

The question sometimes arises, how best to display a charmstring. Well, a friend of ours certainly knows how to create a stunning display. Here an antique mannequin hand was screwed into the base of a bell jar and the charmstring draped around it and through its fingers (the bell jar glass was removed during photographing due to reflection of flash). The string is composed of all black glass buttons, giving a striking contrast between it and the hand.

Viewing Charmstrings, Memory Strings and Friendship Strings as Historical Artifacts

By Susan Buffum

I did not get into button collecting back in 2002 with any particular thought in mind to collecting charmstrings, memory strings and friendship strings. Back then I wasn't even aware that there were such things. I’d never heard of the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s fad. I’d never seen one until I visited a fellow collector’s home and she showed me her prized charmstring. I’d been told to collect what I love when it comes to buttons- and seeing her charmstring, it was love at first sight. I started looking for them and found some in 2003 and have been finding them, as well as making a few of my own from antique buttons I’ve collected, ever since. The Civil War and Victorian eras are my favorite historical periods. I have come to view my charmstrings from these time periods as historical artifacts simply because they are a record of their times. By this I mean that there may be military buttons from as far back as Revolutionary War times forward found on these strings, souvenirs and mementos of the conflicts family members fought in. On some of the strings I own I have found souvenir medals and commemorative medallions pierced and strung on the button strings such as the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition medallion found on CS14, the British Victoria Regina coin/token dated 1849 depicting Hanover on horseback on the reverse side with the words ‘To Hanover 1837’ as found on CS35, and the medal commemorating the “9^th anniversary convention of the Firemen’s Association, Shamokin, PA, Sep 18-20, 1888” found on CS46. Other things I have found on the strings I have collected have been a doll size pot metal teaspoon, a very old and simple ring with a very basic faceted glass inset, assorted love tokens made from various coins, a bear claw, broken bits of jewelry, beads, tiny baskets carved from peach pits, assorted clock and watch keys (one shaped like a hatchet!). The most interesting string I have found, CS24, came with a bit of family history stating it had been used as a baby toy back in the 1870’s- long before people worried about infants choking on small objects! A charmstring can be a record of a family’s history through several generations.

Charmstrings are also a record of the advancement in button manufacturing techniques and the development of new materials from which buttons could be made.  From early Colonial buttons made of pewter, pearl, copper and horn we can trace the development of new materials such as hard rubber, glass and china, wood and celluloid among a few of the material buttons were being made from between 1850 and 1900. Strings in my collection range from very simple to quite elaborate; strings of mostly utilitarian buttons to strings of rather decorative buttons. Simple strings evoke a simpler life where perhaps a young lady wished to emulate her more financially well off peers and strung the buttons available to her through the family button box and those traded with her friends. Every string is different and has its own history to reveal.

That is why I seek them out and preserve them to the best of my ability. They are a record of their times. And every string has its own tale to tell.

Miss Jennie Moxley and Her Memory String

From Susan Buffum

 As many of you may know, my passion is charmstrings.  I have been collecting them since May 2003 when I purchased my first one.  I have since then added 71 other strings to my collection. Charmstrings compose the majority of my button collection. I love the idea of stringing buttons, making memories that will travel through time to future generations. I also like the lore of the charmstring...swapping and adding buttons to a string with the 1000th button being given, hopefully, by the man you will marry.

 Therefore, imagine my surprise and delight when randomly browsing ebay last September I typed in the search words ‘memory string’, and while paging down through the mainly book and music offerings,  I came across a small antique photograph of “Miss Jennie Moxley and her Memory String, Year 1867.”  The photo was taken at Ecker’s Gallery in Louisville Kentucky. It was meant to be!

  The original photograph is a diminutive 2 3/8 wide by 3 3/4 tall in sepia tones. It is very clear and shows Miss Jennie holding her string which appears to be in a long loop against the skirt of her dress. She must have been very proud of her memory string as she chose that among all her possessions to be photographed with.

   I feel very fortunate to own Miss Jennie’s photograph. It is a true treasure in my collection as it not only documents that young ladies were stringing buttons in 1867 but that they also prized their memory or charmstrings highly.

   I will continue to collect button strings and preserve them to be admired by future generations.   

                                                                     

About Those Charming Charmstrings

by Susan Buffum, originally published in the 2005 Massachusetts State Button Society Bulletin

     The Victorian Era, corresponding to the reign of Queen Victoria in England from 1839 to 1901, was a period beloved for its attention to high morals, modesty and proper decorum.  This particular era was also an optimistic time in which scientific and industrial invention thrived.  The importance placed on civic conscience and social responsibility engendered notable developments toward gender and racial equality, such as the abolishment of slavery in America. In addition, humanitarian and religious organizations such as the Salvation Army reflected the Victorian concern for the poor and needy of the period.[1]

     Between the years 1870 and 1900 the quaint fad of making charmstrings arose among young women of all classes.  In the early nineteenth-century machine made buttons came into use with manufactured buttons commonly being used on fashions for functional and decorative purposes from the 1830’s on.  In 1852 fancier buttons from Bavaria, Silesia, Saxe-Altenburg, Rhenish Prussia, Austria, and France were exhibited at the New York Exhibition of Industry starting a button revolution in America.  Buttons were made from brass, pewter, silver, steel and gilt.  Plant materials were used for buttons of hard rubber, wood, vegetable ivory, papier mache and polished nuts. Buttons of bone, ivory, horn, mother-of-pearl, pearl, cameo, shell, tortoiseshell, leather, or coral became popular. Other materials such as ceramic, cloth-covered forms, crocheted thread, embroidered fabric, enamel, jet, and glass were also used for buttons. Some buttons even held jewels or semi-precious gemstones.[2]  Most of the buttons found on a charmstring have loop shanks.  However, young ladies from lower social classes often included all kinds of buttons on their strings, including china and other sew-throughs.

     By the 1860’s buttons were an integral part of fashion design in the United States.  Some women’s clothing used between 60 and 108 buttons on a single garment![3] During these times clothes were worn until they were well-used then any reusable pieces such as collars, trim, pockets and buttons were cut off the garment and put into the sewing basket or sewing box for possible use on a new garment or homemade garment. The lock stitch sewing machine had been invented in 1846 so many families that could afford a sewing machine had one and the ladies of the household became adept at sewing their own and their family’s clothing.  Often loose buttons were kept in a cloth bag or a box of some sort.

     The years 1870 through 1900 saw the fad of the button charm string come into being.  No one knows exactly where and when the fad began but soon many young women were stringing the best and prettiest buttons they could find and making charm strings with the goal being to string 999 buttons.  Lore had it that the 1000^th button on a young lady’s charm string would be given to her by her future husband.  Some said that he had to put the button on the string himself to complete it.  Others said that if the young lady herself strung the 1000^th button by mistake she would remain a spinster!

     To begin a string a young girl would tie a large button called a touch button onto a long string or wire.  She would then continue stringing on the very finest small glass and jeweled buttons of the period.  Original charm strings of the late 19^th century had a large quantity of very small and dainty glass buttons, including early paperweight buttons, as well as small Victorian metals of the period.[4]  A young girl could poke through and gather buttons from her family members’ button boxes, trade or accept buttons from friends, well-wishers or acquaintances, but she was never to purchase buttons for the purpose of adding to her charmstring.  The custom was to give and receive the finest and most beautiful buttons one could find without duplication of a single button on the string.

     Adding buttons to their charmstrings was a pleasant way for girls to pass a summer afternoon or a rainy day, and a welcome change from cutting and arranging the flowers to adorn hall, side tables and mantles, drawing botanical pictures, painting delicate watercolors or doing fancy needlework.  Button trading among friends was a common practice.  Girls would recount the histories behind the special buttons, a friendly custom that kept rivalry thriving and also allowed for a bit of bragging.[5]  While in progress the button strings were kept for all to see, to boast of wonderful buttons and to encourage contributions. Often tiny pieces of paper with notes about certain buttons were kept with the charmstring, documenting who had given the button and what the special occasion was. The charmstring usually became a family project, and many were divided up among family members wanting a token or memento[6] when the original owner lost interest or passed away.  Very few charmstrings were ever completed as after awhile the young lady ran out of family, friends and acquaintances from whom to obtain buttons, lost interest in her string when she met a nice young man, or passed it down to a younger sister who grew bored with the project and stopped adding to it.  Some incomplete charm strings have been found in a condition that would indicate they were lovingly put away, others have been found with broken string (the weight of all those buttons could easily snap an aging piece of string!), or partially dismantled.  Completed charmstrings are a rarity today, and even a partial charmstring is an exceptional find!

     Should you be lucky enough to happen upon a charmstring- perhaps with the needle still attached- the primary guideline for determining if it is original and authentically intact is to consider the age and condition of the string or wire and to determine if all the buttons were made during the proper period (1830’s-1900).  Whether enjoyed for its visual abundance or as a consulting library of 19^th century buttons, the charmstring is an American folk art and is, to put it simply, charming.[7]

_________________________________________________________________________________

[1] www.erasofelegance.com/victorian.html

[2] http://users.erols.com/va42nd/buttons.html

[3] Nineteenth Century Buttons by Virginia Mescher, http://users.erols.com/va42nd/buttons.html

[4] Victorian Charm Strings @www.aboutdecorativestyle.com/articles/Victorian_charm_strings.htm

   Diana Epstein and Millicent Safro

[5] Victorian Charm Strings by Cynthia Burgess, http://cottagesoft.com/~cynthia/magazine/charm.htm

[6] About Charm String, http://www.q-tiques.com/harmstring/about.htm

[7] Victorian Charm Strings, www.aboutdecorativestyle.com/articles/victorian_charm_strings.htm

   Diana Epstein and Millicent Safro