howeenterprise.com
Monday, October 5, 2015
Learn about antiques and collectibles with Georgia Caraway
Page #9
Lady Bulldogs continued from Page #4
An interesting form of buttonhooks is found as a part of the cutting blades, corkscrews, screwdrivers, and drills on multibladed pocketknives. Their size is that of the glove buttonhook, but in an emergency they could be used for shoes. Buttonhooks come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Collectors find thousands of plain ones that advertise shoe stores. Many of these advertising buttonhooks bear the patent dates ranging from 1875 to 1916. By 1916, the need for buttonhooks had diminished but a few were made as recently as 1930.
Not many people alive today will remember the difficulty of buttoning their shoes before school every morning. One part of the unpleasant task was finding the buttonhook, which was to everyone’s consternation, often misplaced. Fortunately for collectors, they are easy to find today. My favorites are those hooks that advertise for local shoe and general stores. Finding a They were made with a variety of handles in local store advertising button hook is quite a many types of materials, and even the hooks coup. Has anyone ever found one for any of themselves show variation, since some are the general or hardware stores in Howe? It small for gloves, others are husky for heavy would be a great addition to the historical shoes, and some are not hooks but oval-shaped display at 101 East Haning! loops that served the purpose of getting the button inside the buttonhole. Tiny hooks measuring 1 inch in length were made for ONE MONTH FROM NOW, ON children’s and dolls’ shoes. SATURDAY NOVEMBER 7, A SPECIAL EVENT WILL OCCUR IN HOWE—THE Many buttonhook handles were made of the “SAVE THE CHURCH” $10 ALL YOU same steel from which the hook was made, but CAN EAT BARBEQUE AND AUCTION. some were of brass, silver, gold, pewter, ivory, MORE THAN 200 ITEMS WILL BE bakelite, celluloid, bone, horn, mother-ofAVAILABLE FOR SALE. PLEASE PUT pearl, oak, ebony, maple, or mahogany. Many THIS ON YOUR CALENDAR AND PLAN buttonhooks were once a part of dresser sets TO ATTEND AND SUPPORT THE that contained glove hooks, combs, brushes, RESTORATION OF THE 122-YEAR OLD and mirrors. FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH BUILDING. TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE The use of these hooks was not limited to HOWE shoes and gloves. They were also used to fasten spats, dresses, starched shirts, and collars. They were such an important dressing tool that buttonhooks as well as shoehorns were, at one time, found in the rooms of all good hotels.
Photos by Loretta Anderson
