72 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 176 



Mrs. Ford (ibid.) states that brass buttons were manufactured well 

 before 1700 and were considered old by that time. The first type of 

 brass button was cast in one piece having a conical or wedge-shaped 

 protuberance on the back which was drilled to provide a means of 

 attachment. At a later date a wire loop was brazed to the back of a 

 flat disk or blank. This joint was rather insecure and the loop fre- 

 quently broke away from the disk. To overcome this defect the wire 

 was bent into either a true loop or a false loop and then brazed into 

 position on the button (fig. 11, e). 



The shanking of a button was one of the most important operations tn button- 

 making, and separate companies were established simply for the making of 

 shanks. The button manufacturers bought them ready to apply. This continued 

 to be so until about 1860. 



Of the wire loop shanks the earliest were hand-drawn wire, which was not 

 perfectly round and was finer than that used at a later date. This shank was 

 apt also to be oval rather than circular. The applying of shanks individually 

 with a blow pipe and "flux" continued until about 1850, and was considered to 

 be one of the most important and specialized operations in the entire making 

 of the button. 



The rolling of brass brought a great advance in button-making. This process 

 was first tried in the United States in Waterbury in 1790 — somewhat earlier 

 abroad. Now buttons could be stamped from sheets, or strips of metal, and 

 quantity production was easier. [Ford, ibid.] 



"Red metal" and "Prince's metal" are two varieties, the former being used 

 in the button trade. Birmingham, England, originally famous for its iron 

 work, acquired a reputation for brass buttons. Gold lace had long been con- 

 spicuous for ornamenting riding-dresses, and, as it grew old-fashioned, its place 

 was taken by brass buttons. The eighteenth and the first part of the nine- 

 teenth centuries may be called "the brass button era." [Moore, 1933.] 



Two pewter buttons were found in the fill above the floor of the 

 uppermost historic level. These are rather interesting in that one 

 of them shows a certain degree of deterioration while the other is as 

 bright and lustrous as new. They are 17 mm. in diameter and 2 mm. 

 in thickness. There are four perforations in each which are not truly 

 round but slighty elliptical in outline. The buttons were made in a 

 mold to which a shank was attached. JSIold marks do not show on 

 the face of the button but are readily seen around the rim and on the 

 back. Before the button could be put into use the shank had to be 

 clipped off close to the back. Since the back was not smoothed over 

 afterward a scar is to be seen in the place of the shank. 



Pewter buttons have been used a long time. Generally buttons of 

 this type were used by the lower classes or were sent to frontier posts 

 as articles of trade. There are various types of pewter, depending 

 upon the kinds and amount of metals used. In England the propor- 

 tions of metals were rigidly regulated and enforced and this same 



