I’ve been waiting for today for a whole year. Its the one day of the year that I can visit a fair where I know there is a great stash of vintage buttons. These beauties are from a shop that would have closed down in the 1940s, and I found the most beautiful assortment of colours and designs. These are made from an early plastic called casein (which is the protein in milk). Mixed with a few chemicals it makes a great plastic, and though it has since been replaced by more modern polymers, it is still made in countries that produce a lot of milk, eg New Zealand. Anyway, enough of the chemistry, check these out!


I love the shape of this one!
These are magnificent! They’re reverse carved and painted lucite in immaculate condition!
I literally bought hundreds of buttons today – all on old shop cards. It was so much fun!