Monday Musings: Count Your Buttons Day, Oct. 21

Well, bust my buttons!

Who knew that there was a special holiday to count buttons? According to many websites which list designated special days throughout the year, Count Your Buttons Day is celebrated annually on Oct. 21.

As a child, I remember playing with my grandmother’s eclectic button collection. She kept a Mason jar full of buttons on her sewing machine. Big ones. Little ones. Sparkly ones. Oddly shaped ones. I spent hours playing with them on her kitchen table. I loved organizing them into piles by color, by size, and by style. My favorites were ones shaped like animals such as ducks and rabbits. I also loved the little turkeys and chickens, lambs and frogs.

Word Origin of Button

The word button crept into the English language sometime between 1275-1325, according to www.dictionary.com. It originated in Middle French with the word boton, which was equivalent to boter meaning to butt up against something. The noun suffix on was added and, after a trip through Anglo-French and Middle English, voila! We now have the word button.

Fun fact: “Buttons” is a chiefly British term to call a bellboy or a page in a hotel. In this case, it’s used with a singular verb such as “Buttons is standing by the front desk.” (The word nerd in me is geeking out over this one!)

Timeline of Buttons

Buttons have been in use longer than you might think. The oldest known button was found in modern-day Pakistan and dates back to almost 3000 BC. And, according to www.britannica.com, “In medieval Europe, garments were laced together or fastened with brooches or clasps, until buttonholes were invented in the 13th century. Then, buttons became so prominent that in some places sumptuary laws (regulation of items considered luxuries) were passed putting limits on their use.”

“The Middle Ages is when the button’s use as a functional fastener started to take hold,” according to an article titled “A Brief History of Buttons Through the Ages” posted May 28, 2018 on the website www.sbs-zipper.com. “In Europe, close-fitting clothes became in vogue among nobles and royalty, and buttons were used to help the garments fit more snugly around the wearers’ body. For women, it’s the bosom that was accentuated, while for men, it’s the arms.”

The article continued: “In 16th century France, button makers’ guilds started to pop up. These guilds regulated the production of buttons, as well as passed laws regarding their use. Though the buttons of the Middle Ages are already functional, they are still seen as a symbol of prosperity and prestige. Only those who are rich enough to afford them can be allowed to wear elaborate buttons. If you’re poor or from the lower class, you are forbidden to wear clothes with an egregious [number] of buttons.”

It wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution that mass production allowed buttons to be made more cheaply, thus, allowing people of all economic classes to purchase them. Today, buttons can be functional or decorative and can be made of many, different kinds of materials: Seashells, bones, horns, stone, metal, glass, wood, mother of pearl, leather, plastic, china, and ceramic.

There are many collectors today who seek out old buttons and some antique buttons are very valuable. For instance, buttons made of Bakelite, which was a synthetic compound developed in 1907, are highly collectible.

How Buttons are Measured

The size of buttons is measured by a ligne, which has been the standard of measurement in the garment-making industry for centuries. Ligne is a French word for line and is pronounced leen-yuh. You may also hear it pronounced leen.

Now don’t press the panic button here, but we’re going to delve into some math to learn how to calculate button ligne.

According to an article titled “How to Calculate Button Size by Ligne” posted on www.sbs-zipper.com on Dec. 15, 2017, here’s how it’s done:

While measuring ligne unit might not be familiar to the most of us, we are all familiar with the modern metric system in meter or inch. To calculate button ligne, all we need to do is to convert it into millimeters or inches.

As the standard, 40 ligne or 40L equals 1 inch or 25 millimeters. So 1L equals 0.635mm. To calculate button size in ligne, simply divide the diameter of the button (in millimeters) by 0.635.

Button Ligne= button diameter (mm)/0.635.

For example, if your button diameter is 18mm, the calculation becomes:

Ligne=18/0.635
=28.34

Rounded down, the button ligne is 28L.

Idioms about Buttons
An idiom is an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of the individual words which make up the idiom. For instance, “it’s raining cats and dogs” describes a heavy rainfall. It doesn’t literally mean that Fluffy and Fido are falling from the sky; however, etymologists (people who study word origins) aren’t really sure how the expression originated.

Back to buttons, though. Here are some idioms about buttons, thanks to www.phrases.com, www.idoms.thefreedictionary.com and www.dictionary.com.

How many of them have you heard or said?

At the touch of a button: Very easily and with little effort.

Bust my buttons: An expression of surprise.

Button one’s lip: To remain silent, especially in order to keep a secret or to avoid saying something inappropriate.

Bright as a button: Very cheery, energetic, and upbeat.

Button up: To fasten all the buttons on a coat to keep warm.

Have all one’s buttons: To be mentally competent, alert and sane. Having all one’s wits about them.

Hot button: A central issue, concern, or characteristic, especially one that motivates people to make a choice.

Button nose: A nose with a small size and a relatively flat, round shape that’s considered dainty or cute.

Button-down: Of a collar, able to be buttoned down to the shirt, as over a necktie.

Button-downed: Serious, staid, businesslike.

Care a button: To care.

Cute as a button: Very cute.

Dad, fetch my buttons: An exclamation of surprise like oh my!

Lose one’s buttons: To lose one’s mental capacity.

On the button (or right on the button): Exactly, precisely.

Press the panic button: To begin to panic.

Push one’s buttons: To do things that create anger, irritation, or exasperation.

You punched my button: Encouragement or reasoning, financial support and confidence that I could succeed.

Fun Button-y Ideas and Crafts

Here are some fun ideas to help celebrate Count Your Buttons Day (unless, of course, you have koumpounophobia, which is the fear of buttons):

• Start your own button collection by digging through drawers and shelves to locate buttons. Find a Mason jar or a clear, pretty container and set it on a windowsill so you can admire your collection. A bonus is that you’ll never have to search for a matching, or mismatching, button again. Thrift shops are another place to find old buttons;
• Sew a replacement button on an article of clothing or, better yet, snip off the old buttons for your collection and sew on new ones in fun shapes or colors;
• Make simple, inexpensive “cute as a button” Christmas trees by following the instructions on www.beginnersewingprojects.com. Here’s the link;
• Glue small magnets on the backs of large buttons to make fridge magnets;
• Use hot glue to affix decorative buttons to paper clips;
• String buttons together to make a necklace or a bracelet;
• Fill a clear, plastic Christmas ball-type ornament with red and green buttons and glue on a piece of holiday ribbon to hang on your tree; or,
• Decorate a plain headband with buttons.

If you make any of these crafts for Count Your Buttons Day, take a picture and post it below. I’d also love to read about any button collecting stories you’d like to share.

In Him,

Pamela

#CountYourButtonsDay