Advice on old buttons

[mommallthetime]

I have recently come into about 10,000 vintage buttons. The problem I have is - I DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT BUTTONS. So I am frantic. My husband says sell them all in a large lot. But I disagree. Is there any where I can go to help me to identify any of these? Or at lease tell me how to identify the different types, glass, bone, bakelite, plastic, pearl, ect. Thanks you for you time and help. Jami

[iwin]

Hi mommallthetime, What would you like to know? Here are a few tips to get you started: 1. To tell if a button is glass, tap it on your teeth. It will sound much sharper than if if it is plastic (you will be able to tell the difference). Also, I think glass is colder than plastic. 2. There are tests for Bakelite. One test involves poking the back of a button with a hot needle and it emits a smell, but an easier (and less damaging) test is to use Dow Scrubbing Bubbles. You simply spray the Scrubbing Bubbles on a Q-tip, then rub the Q-tip on the button you think is Bakelite. The Q-tip will turn bright yellow if it is Bakelite. Hope this helps! -Arlene

[mommallthetime]

Thank you so much for your help. That clears up that. Jami

[maxine*j]

Sorting them by the material they are made of is one approach. But look through button auctions and you'll find people also buy them by color, by design, by era, by size, and so on. Since you say know nothing about buttons and since positive identification of the materials can sometimes be tricky, you could think about sorting them in one of these other ways. I'd say spend a few days just cruising through the current button auctions to get a feel for the sorts of "groupings" people bid on and see if you could put together a few similar ones for starters -- all red buttons, or "flower" type buttons, or big buttons, or...

[susansselections]

You are right to split them into smaller lots, in my opinion. That assumes that there are some good (valuable)buttons in the lot. Splitting them up is a lot of work but I think it will bring the best return for you. It varies of course. I tried splitting up a large lot of marbles recently and it turned out not to be worth it, so I'm selling them off by the cupful now. As a general rule I'd say at least try splitting a large lot though. Good luck. Roy

[slanasinga]

Where you live mommaallthetime? I'll come be your new best friend. Good night! That's a lot of buttons! Anyone with a serious Jones for buttons read your post and felt their mouth start to water. Good luck!

[beehappygardening]

I also have "come into" a great deal of buttons. I am going to gather my closest girlfriends for a "girls Night out" and have a sorting party. I'll bet we will get more than just buttons sorted!

[nancymc56]

Hello,My name is Nancy ,I have saved buttons ,I don't know very much about them ,I am sorting them ,taking pictures so I can have them ready for our next free listing,or Penny Gallery and going to list lots of them,

[jmso]

Hi iwin, I have just joined this group and was reading this thread. This is in regard to your post way back in November. You had said that to ID a bakelite "to use Dow Scrubbing Bubbles by putting it on a q-tip and rubbing the bakelite button and it will turn yellow". I have seen some Dow Scrubbing Bubble wipes in the store. Would they work as well? You pieces of advice were very educational to a newbie "buttoneer". Any thing else you can add would be much appreciated. Thanks for an interesting and learned group. jmso

[melodyoflife]

I am really new and was reading your posts...and nancymc56 said she was going to wait for a "free listing or Penny Gallery". I haven't begun to sell yet and wondered what these are? I could sure use an easy way of overcoming my fear of jumping into selling. (I've just made a few purchases so far...)

[iwin]

TO jmso: Yes, I believe the Dow Scrubbing Bubbles wipes work to identify bakelite also. Even though I have been collecting buttons for several years, I am not an expert at identifying materials. Anyone else have advice for jmso? TO melodyoflife: Every now and then eBay holds a "free listing day" when they waive the insertion fee for 24-hours. You still have to pay the final value fee and any other optional fees that you choose. "Penny Gallery Day" is another promotion that eBay occasionally runs. On Penny Gallery Day, it only costs a penny to have your listing photo appear in eBay's Gallery. When a photo of your item is in the Gallery, buyers browse categories or search with keywords, they see Gallery item photos directly in the result lists. Gallery items stand out in the list and let buyers see what's being offered before they go into your listing. I hope this makes sense (I am writing this just before bed)! For more information on the Gallery, or any other eBay feature, just go to the very top of any eBay page, click on the Help link at the far right, and type a keyword into the search box. Hope this helps!

[oneofakindtreasures_1]

I have been collecting buttons for over 20 years. I have a pretty decent collection. I am going to be selling off a ton that are vintage, but not very collectable. Pretty much everything has been covered, MOP and Glass are cold to the touch, and bakelite can be tested with the Dow, or Pin test. I did have one bakelite that I swore was glass, but when I did the burn test I turned out that it was bakelite. Then there are the old celluloid, and lucite, bone and ivory, metals and uniform... Some of these can be a little tricky to identify. My personal favorites are the old hand carved pearl buttons, and I just love the old pink moonglow glass buttons. Here is a good link for anyone wanting info to identify older vintage buttons, esp glass. http://vintagebuttons.net/educational.html Click on the photos, and that will take you to the type of button listed. Keep in mind these are very collectable types, but will give you something to use for comparison. Good Luck with your listings. Laura

[oneofakindtreasures_1]

One other thing I failed to mention, is that when you list large quantities of buttons I have found that my buttons sell better when they are organized, and laid out in an organized fashion, as opposed to just dumped on a table. I photograph my dark buttons on a white contrasting cloth, and my light buttons on a dark contrasting cloth. It can be the difference between $5.00, and $500.00. Sorting buttons can take many hours, but it can pay off depending on what you have. Laura

[tinanbob]

Hello all! I have accumulated stock pile tins of old buttons for estate sales for the last few years. I would like to help about the various vintage plastic ones. The really old plastics can be Celluloid, Bakelite, Goliath, Catilin, Lucite. There was so many different mixes of formulas used especially in old buttons that sometimes they has mixes of 2 so some test don't react to chemicals. Best it smelling them under hot tap water. (Goliath) is very old and they used Milk as a base and smells horrible like vomit or sour milk! It does not test by chemicals but resembles bakelite. (Celluloid) smells like Vicks vapor rub or has a menthol smell. It is very light weight too. They loved to mix in other plastics so sometimes it does not smell and can be tricky. Really old ones can disintegrate and have a crushed look and usually applejuice color. Celluloid is also very flammable so No hot pin test! (Bakelite) is heavy in weight and does smell like formaldehyde and I like to test with 409 on q-tip to turn yellow. Please note black and reds sometime don't test but have the smell (Catilin) is a form of bakelite and it likes to be tested with pink simichrome polish in a tube that is expensive but last forever, also it test what 409 don't show sometimes for results. Yellow results with it too. No seams on the buttons and it was mostly sliced and good ones are carved with inlay colors or figural shapes is good. The best thing about the hot water test it is the best when you don't get a chemical reaction. (Lucite) is also heavy and was starting to be made in the 40s. It has no smell. Carved is also very good or ones embedded with glitter and things. Ordinary more modern plastic is light weight and is molded into shapes with no smell too and can't be confused with the older lucite heavier type. Hope I could help, Tina

[dstuber]

Excellent tips Tina. I had also heard Dow Scrubbing Bubbles works on Bakelite turning Q-Tip yellow.