05/05/2026
A small series of antique and vintage buttons are now available!
I collect these not just for their good looks 😉 but for their history.
The gray and pale purple buttons are Czech glass from the 1950s. These are known as Moonglows to collectors, and it’s an apt nickname for how they softly catch the light. They were made by layering a dome of clear glass over a layer of colored satin glass, giving them a lovely depth and a bit of cat-eye effect.
These lovelies had a short production history, beginning in the 1950s and being displaced in the 1960s by lighter (and less expensive) plastic buttons.
The other buttons are Victorian glass, and they’re all black. 🤨
Black glass was one of the most prevalent materials for buttons during Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901), partly because black was practical in the - literally - filthy city of London, but also because Victoria spent 40 years mourning her husband, and in those days “formal mourning attire” was a rule and not a personal choice, with specific timeframes and even dictates for when to wear shiny vs matte fabrics. 👀 The whole process had detailed levels of showing respect to the deceased.
While we don’t know whether or not these were mourning buttons, we can still appreciate the beauty of these molded glass tinies and their intricately impressed details. The pendant sports a four-leaf clover, a classic good-luck symbol and always a delight to behold. The earrings have what almost seems a trefoil design, a centuries-old image that’s historically been used by pagans as well as in Christian symbolism, and found in architecture throughout Europe.
But what about the silver buttons?
These have a metallic overlay on a black glass base: they began life as black buttons before having some extra shine added. And ‘extra’ was appreciated in the dark Victorian homes, which had no electricity. Shiny, silvery, textured buttons would catch the flickering firelight (and later, flickering gas lights) when the wearer moved, drawing attention to him or her.
Silvered glass buttons earrings were designed for practical reasons as well as for their “ooh, shiny” 😁 appeal: they were made to imitate the look of steel-cut buttons, which were more expensive due to both the steel material and the extra labor (steel cuts are individually riveted). The glass buttons also have the advantage of not rusting like steel can.
I’ve included images of a couple of steel-cut items (p.3-4) so you can see the difference. The steels may have more sparkle, but the glass imitators have their own quiet beauty.
Listed in the “newest” section of the online shop:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/bluepiranha?ref=seller-platform-mcnav§ion_id=25283820
