THE GIRL WITH KALEIDOSCOPE EYES
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| This is what I feel like after looking at Kaleidoscope Buttons! LOL |
I recently found a PIN SHANK KALEIDOSCOPE. I posted about it on my FBR Facebook page, but I'll put the post here, as well as all the NEW Kaleidoscope info I've added (so keep reading!).
Collecting buttons is like looking through a KALEIDOSCOPE. The wants and loves shift quickly with each new button discovery, and before you know it, you are chasing down yet another type of button AND need to LEARN about them.
Today’s FBR button share is a nifty pin shank Kaleidoscope that was hiding in a little pile of antique buttons offered for sale on-line (yes, you missed it!).
The little box lot of about 30 little buttons was purchased from an English dealer on Etsy. After shipping, the buttons in the lot cost me all of around $0.40 each! LOL Not bad for a SCARCE BUTTON! Even better is there is an (illegible) BACK MARK on it!
Here's how I saw them on-line. Who knows how many collectors didn't even bother to look at this "Lot" offered by the dealer.
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| Do YOU see what I see? |
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| Back view as I saw the offering on Etsy |
This new find of mine (found while all of you were off at the NBS Convention without ME) certainly fits into my PIN SHANK button collection, but really made me take a new look at the odd metal back GLASS buttons known to button collectors as KALEIDOSCOPES. I love adding another WEIRD AND SCARCE button into my collection and this was just what I needed to delve into some info on Kaleidoscopes!
I don’t have any clue what the current value is of a pin shank kaleidoscope button… The last one I saw priced was in 2006 at $80.00! If you have some current value intel, you can whisper it to me via DM if you’ve seen one for sale recently or just go ahead and post it in comments below! LOL.
Oh, and NO… it’s not for sale. J
Common examples of Kaleidoscopes seem to run around $6-12 with fancy tops starting about $15-$25+. Prices go up for reverse intaglio molded and really shoot up for unusual molded tops and rare examples like the realistic shell, oval shape, Paperweights, overlay, etc. I saw a pictorial offered on eBay for $200! Couldn't tell what it was though... LOL
I was ready to learn more (and how to be careful and know what I'm buying). You too? Well, let's go!
I also had much to learn about the history of these weird old glass buttons, which is my favorite part of button collecting! It’s been a fun few days of research…and I’ve really looked forward to sharing it with my FBR Friends.
This one is a long read… so buckle up and get a cuppa coffee (adding Bailey’s is allowed… it’s MEDICINAL!)!
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| Yup, that's about right! |
Here’s what I learned:
Really, I didn’t know much about this particular Class of fragile glass buttons to start off. I could recognize them and I had my share of them come apart early on in my collecting history, so never gave them much thought. I don't think I've ever bought one just to buy a Kaleidoscope. Honestly, I have no clue how many I have (and I haven't even gone and looked, since most of my buttons are packed up right now).
I don't think I ever saw a program on them, or read an informative article on them. I'd seen them in button books, but from what I could recall, they were old, but pretty run of the mill. Boy I was wrong! LOL
Number 1: Get a good look at THE BACK before buying on-line! I saw several glass and plastic buttons this week on Etsy that button dealers called Kaleidoscopes that were not! All those were self shanked buttons, and they were modern buttons from the 50s-60s.
These have a very specific type of metal shank attached to a tinned metal plate. These are a Division I (pre-1918 made) button. Despite the large flat metal shank plate on the back, these are considered GLASS (Section 7) and not Glass Mounted on/in Metal.
Number 2: Not all glass buttons with this metal back plate qualify as a Kaleidoscope.
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| From the 2023 NBS Classification "Blue" Book |
I have found them on old charmstrings and in old button boxes (and often just find the metal plate shanks with the glass top loose or looong gone).
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| One of my old Charmstrings |
Well documented Charmstrings that were dated by the original owner/maker often contain many of them, or at least the metal plate shanks. One I’ve seen with them was dated as made in 1872. That gives a good range to help pin down that the manufacturing date was prior to the string's date.
A few times I’ve found a dozen or so kaleidoscope buttons cemented with putty to old ceramic Memory Jugs/Jars made with 100's of fabulous antique buttons (that I rescued by carefully chipping away the wonderful old buttons - Sadly, most of the Kaleidoscopes didn’t survive the recovery operation). All were pre-1918 Victorian era buttons.
Examples of my antique Memory Pots
Kaleidoscopes are mentioned in the NBS Bulletins as early as 1942 and were a very popular category for competition all through the 40s. At one time, due to the myriad of common plaid patterns found, early collectors were calling them “2-Piece Plaids” to identify the type of button.
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| A typical domed Plaid pattern Kaleidoscope button. |
According to the NBS Article in 1945 by Blanche C. Pendleton, a man by the name of David F. Johnson gave this button oddity the name just a few years earlier. They were referred to as “Tin Backs” by Grace Horney Ford in her 1943 book A Button Collector’s History, and she did NOT like the name Kaleidoscope. Can’t please everyone! LOL
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| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ |
Despite all the various names, the NBS Classification Committee adopted Johnson’s term in the 50s, and the fun name has stuck.
More serious study of these started about 1952. The characteristics of this popular little button type demanded to become more defined through the late 50’s as collectors vied in competition and wanted clear definitions with the “rules” for what constitutes a Kaleidoscope glass button.
Below is from A Survey of Kaleidoscopes, NBS Bulletin May, 1957, p. 146, by Jane F. Adams and also the Illustration of the construction that was drawn by Mary Long for the 1945 article on these.
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| Drawn by Mary Long in 1945 - Note that this also mentions ovals |
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| Definitions started with A Survey of Kaleidoscopes, NBS Bulletin May, 1957, p. 146, by Jane F. Adams. NOTE: Today, all plain metal backs and paper backs are excluded! |
Later, paperbacks, mirrored back tops, and other NON-PATTERNED metal back glass buttons all were excluded as being called kaleidoscopes.
The metal plate shank does NOT define these! Metal back glass with just a mirrored back finish or even a transparent colored glass top WITHOUT 2 or more PAINT COLORS on the BACK SIDE of the glass will earn you a measle in competition.
Hey... I looked and I have some mirror back and molded tops without 2 color paint that have these types of shanks on them sitting on my old mixed glass work storage cards that I wrote "Kalei" under at some point... *sigh* LOL! Soooo I'll have some work to do! BUT now I know!
OLDIES but GOODIES: Pinning down a probable period date and origin for these takes some digging into the early button industry of our country. Generally it’s believed by collectors that these buttons were made in the mid-1800s, and for a short time, were quite popular for women's and children's clothing and possibly men's waistcoats (depending on country and styles, as colored glass buttons were often mentioned on waistcoats during the 1850s-60s in England).
Several times in early NBS Bulletins and Just Buttons, collectors referred to these as being made in Pennsylvania in the 1860s (though I have yet to see anything concrete to confirm this state or exact period in print or in my searches for button companies that made glass buttons in PA from 1850-90).
The button lot I purchased that contained the pin shank kaleidoscope came from England… so, did it travel overseas in a button box, on a dress sent over or worn to move there? Or... perhaps were these made in the center of button industry there (Birmingham) or imported to the UK (and other countries also including the US) to be sold during the period that they were being made.
Lots of maybes... so information on early glass button companies in the US was needed. I've searched for 2 days!! Here's what I did manage to find:
During the mid-1800s finished glass buttons and components were imported from hundreds of makers in Brittan, Bohemia (Austria), France and other countries to be distributed by button companies here in the US.
The 1875 Encylopaedia Britannica Volume 4 listed these countries with a number count for each City for the button manufacturers in business for that year, including the US:
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| Count for the US in 1875 was only 55 button manufacturers!! Pearl (shell), vegetable ivory and metals were the main industries so it's assumed that most were those. |
Prior to 1890, there were few glass button manufacturers in the United States. Glass, in general, was a rare commodity in the US. There were few glassworks companies in the US after the war of 1812, and many only survived a few years, such as the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company (1826-1888). Most glass produced was flint for tablewares and window glass and it was expensive. The earliest glass button manufacturer that I could find was C. Warren Tuttle of Providence, R.I. (est. 1867 in Pawtucket but found working in glass in 1854 in a New England directory).
An important factor in understanding the reasons for the lack of glass button manufacturers in the US means to take the history of tariffs into consideration. Called Protective Tariffs, they were a percentage of the value of items imported into the US. These were a value added taxes imposed by the US Government in order to help protect and encourage the development of industry (and of course, revenue to the Government). Buttons were always included.
The first tariff for buttons and button molds was in 1789 at 7-1/2 percent ad valorem. The first specific provision just for materials needed by the burgeoning US button industry to make buttons appeared in the Tariff Act of 1816 being applied to button molds (used inside fabric buttons) at 20 percent ad valorem.
Advocated by the Whig party and Henry Clay and enacted in 1842, tariffs were raised on the import of finished buttons, but within a few years rates were cut in 1846 and cut again in 1857. The Morrill Bill of 1860 drastically increased tariff rates on goods that were deemed popular protect industries (like iron and textiles) Buttons were 30 percent.
When it came to the manufacture of glass buttons, much of the materials needed for making these buttons needed to come from other countries. The cost with additional imposed import tariffs meant that makers couldn't compete with finished imported buttons. Glass wasn't well represented or understood by those in Government deciding tariffs. The glass rods needed were referred to as Fusible Enamel. The first place I could find any mention of fusible enamel (glass canes) was 1884 and was listed under glass, but mentioned that it was grouped without apparent distinction as to use for making glass, pottery and enameled ironware articles at 25 percent ad valorem.
Early imported finished glass buttons were very inexpensive and only had a 25% duty imposed on their product. US glass button manufacturers found it impossible to compete with the low cost of imports from France, Austria and Germany.
Glass button tariffs on completed buttons were raised further in 1890 to 60 percent ad valorem, but then just a few years later, were again reduced to 35 percent 1894. The few glass button manufacturers that had barely built up their business just a few years earlier now struggled to compete with imports and many went out of business.
Bohemia always had the lowest prices of anywhere in the world so their ad valorem tariff (customs duty calculated as a percentage of the value of the product) and final cost to buyers importing them was quite low. Button making in Bohemia was a fine tuned cottage industry, without need for industrial buildings for manufacturing. They also had very low wages paid to workers, including children. Most glass buttons and glass embellishments (that would be later added to metal buttons or jewelry) came to the US from there. Bohemia dominated the glass button world until the collapse of the Austrian empire in 1918. Changes began as Germans began to buy many of the glass shops which soon became factories and forced small scale producers out of the market. The region became known as Gablonz and became the glass and bead capitol of the world. The US glass button industry wouldn't even begin to come back until after 1908 and would continue to struggle against imported buttons.
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| From 1913: Note the mention of J.A. Deknatel of New York and C. Warren Tuttle of Providence, R.I. (est. 1867 in Pawtucket). B. Blumenthal was also a large early importer of finished glass buttons, beginning 1877. More clues to the slow start of success and early industry of US made glass buttons?! |
Tariff hearings with a few button companies represented earlier during 1888 indicated basically the same information (high tariffs on raw materials were a complaint of all the companies making all types of buttons during this time). Brooklyn Button Works Co. - Geo. Stirn who had only been in business since about 1886, and making glass buttons, testified that due to the high duty cost of glass cane (45% vs. 25% for finished glass buttons imported), and for the additional high cost of other imported needed components, they had difficulty trying to stay in business because they couldn't afford to compete with imported finished glass buttons.
Below is his comparison presented of the cost per gross to manufacture buttons in Europe vs. a factory in the US at that time:
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| 1888 prices - At .16 cents vs. .38 cents per gross, it's no wonder that there weren't more glass manufacturers in the US in prior to 1900! |
The closest thing to a reference of a flat tinned plate shank on a glass button appeared in the Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Great Exhibition of works of industry of all nations of 1851 (also known as the Crystal Palace Exhibition):
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| The above notes a round piece of zinc which a fastened shank is soldered to. Glass buttons for African Chiefs in 1851... who knew!? The barbarian love of glitter? LOL |
Tariffs rose and fell throughout these early periods that a glass button industry in the US tried to begin. They also were applied to the necessary glass components needed and imported component costs were so high, most manufacturers couldn't compete.
Interesting side note, I found reference to LEO POPPER battling the government for glass he imported during the period of the Tariff Act if 1883! More on that in another FBR post on another day. Stay tuned!
High tariff rates for glass rods, sheet glass and shanks, as well as other glass components for buttons and jewelry, along with manufacturing and labor cost problems of 1840-90 leads me to believe that most likely kaleidoscope buttons weren't made in the US, but were imported. In 1891, imposed duty tariffs for glass rods/canes (fusible enamel) was a high 45 percent!
Until a sample card, shop card or Patent of these unusual metal back buttons emerges with more information, we may never know exactly. So, still a mystery! At this point, my guess is that kaleidoscopes and similar metal back buttons were made elsewhere and imported here.
My pinshank button does have a back mark (that I haven't deciphered yet since my digital microscope is in storage for our eventual move!). This could be a great clue to where and who. I think it says L*M or maybe even LON. (London? *thanks for the idea Bob*) but I'm not sure yet.
Hopefully others with this pinshank will check their button(s) to see if they can read the mark (please message me if you do!). Meanwhile, I'll keep researching!
CONSTRUCTION: Early shellacs and animal glues joined the top glass face to the distinct metal plate shank. Over time, and under bad storage conditions like excess moisture or high heat, the adhesive may crystallize or just loses the bond. A rusted shank plate is a good clue that the button hasn't had a good life. Really, the construction just wasn’t great to begin with. The shellac/glue was over paint or foils, so it all delaminates from the non-porous glass…and they came apart fairly easily. It’s no surprise this type of button manufacturing construction didn’t last long in the fashion world.
SIZES: The common size is 5/8” (though smaller buttons were mentioned in articles). Any diameter over ¾” will be uncommon, and is a counter in competition (so write an award to include all sizes if you want them used!!). There were 1-1/8” sizes made (a medium) and a super rare NBS Large size mentioned (I saw that one was noted in the 1950s but no idea if it would conform to today's definition for them). Is there a DIMINUTIVE? Honestly, I have no idea! You could also write awards for competition in these to only include the small size or all sizes in order to really see what is out there!
SHAPES: Shapes are scarce since at this time, there are only two known. An OVAL shape and there is a Shell REALISTIC shape, that also counts as a pictorial.
TOPS: The common glass top is a smooth glass dome. Other types are flat sided and topped like a drum. Tops can be cut, dimpled, faceted, intaglio and molded designs. There are no top molded pictorials.
DECORATIVE FINISHES: (DF) of frosted, acid and metallic lusters on the surface of the glass have been noted.
PATTERNS: Patterns other than plaid are numerous, such as stars, circles, checks, dots, stripes, paisley, spatters, etc. and metallic gold or silver paint was often used under the glass.
After seeing a medium and small matched pair on-line, I believe the reverse painted patterns were not hand painted, but were a stamped process or somehow transferred by sheet.
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| NERBA auction Medium & Small size pair. 2022 Woooo right? Note the pattern has loops and it shows in same size on the small button. Looks to be stamped or a transfer rather than hand painted. |
SCARCE/RARITIES: Other than the oval, realistic shell, Med. and Large sizes and Pin Shank… Reverse Intaglio molded pictorials were noted in the 40s-50s however, there were ONLY two different known pictures of this type, both heads - one was a head with stars design. Both were noted in the 1957 article and both were considered Rare. The NBS May 2009 pictorial kaleidoscope article only shows one of the head buttons.
Any other reverse intaglio pictures would be suspect and need major scrutiny. New things DO come to light as buttons in old collections come back in for sale, so who knows!?! Hopefully the owners of anything else will document them for the NBS to include in future articles for us.
Another rarity that I’ve seen referred to in early articles is a SEW THROUGH Kaleidoscope (though I suspect it might have been a paper back before they were taken out of the Class for these)! Have YOU got one/seen one??
Other rarities that were early mentions in these early articles were of Paperweight Kaleidoscopes (glass cane work inside the glass dome) and a kaleidoscope with strings of overlay glass on the top. Of course to qualify today, it would need 2 paint colors on the back side of the button!!
Super unusual would be a window cut sheath overlay glass tops mentioned in an article the 1950s. Again, would need the 2-color back paint to qualify today.
Wow! Maybe one of these will show up in my next cheap button lot! Ha ha…
CAVEAT EMPTOR: PICTORIALS??
Jane Adams warned collectors in 1957 to beware of kaleidoscopes with “cute little paper pictures.” She said:
“Be unimpressed by flowers, or birds, or animals, or famous people, or any other pictorial subject that may be shown to you in a kaleidoscope. Buttons of that kind HAVE NOT BEEN FOUND ON VINTAGE CHARM STRINGS OR IN HEIRLOOM BUTTON BOXES. They turn up in the hands of recent owners minus proven pedigree or verifiable history. It seems certain that the only kaleidoscopes with pictures in them are ones that HAVE BEEN RE-ASSEMBLED FROM ODD TOPS AND SHANK PLATES.
The good collection has no place for them.”
☝ Well said then and applicable TODAY!
While there have been a few reverse PAINTED or REVERSE molded INTAGLIO pictures that have been documented and are accepted (see NBS Bulletin article of May, 2009 page 80) most Pictorials are questionable as a make-up (doctored, faked – taken apart with new additions of a different glass top, new paint, paper, tinsel or foils to the underside and re-glued to these old buttons). I've seen kaleidoscope tin back shanks glued to all kinds of stuff over the years. Yuck!
They were done usually by collectors/dealers looking to make $$ or a "crafty" collector entering a tray and looking to win a ribbon. Decoupage paper crafting was popular, and button collectors learned that they could use the button parts and even antique printed papers to quickly create something that looked old and rare. Ugh!!
THESE made up paper pictorials ARE NOT CONSIDERED A STUDIO BUTTON!! Oh, and nope, can't ever be used in competition in any Division (III or IX).
From the 2023 NBS Classification Book
on Conversions and Make-ups in competition
The REAL DEAL - Accepted pictorials:
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| Known pictorials from the NBS 2009 Article by K. Quirk and R. Lyons. These are REVERSE PAINTED or REVERSE INTAGLIO with the exception of the Shell shape. No paper pictorials have ever been accepted as anything but a Make Up! |
MY SOAP BOX MOMENT: Sadly, these make up paper pictorials (and other make up and converted buttons) get pulled out of the large old collections that are bought by dealers and are either thrown into poke boxes, sold off in lots at auctions or sold on-line (when they just should be destroyed).
New collectors and even uninformed older ones buy this awful stuff, and eventually may use them in competition. Without some intervention, the junk just continue to live on (like Cher and cockroaches), when they should have just never been "revived" like that to begin with.
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Programs and good articles for state societies are important, especially when there is a competition coming for Kaleidoscopes and made-up pictorials may be in membership's collections (or you have a few members known to be handy with scissors and glue 😬 gah!).
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| Okay! I'm done! (for now...) |
So, what to do when you want to start to collect Kaleidoscopes??
GET A CLUE: Check out the back! Remember #1? The biggest clue to a "Messed With" or at the very least a repaired kaleidoscope would be a very clean, dirt/gunk free edge joins of the glass/metal plate (a HUGE tip off, so look for it!).
The original shellac or animal glue will be a very dark color (never CLEAR glue and amber glue (older) should be suspect!). It should probably show grit and dirt and it all will show around the outer edge of the metal back shank plate.
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| Old Kaleidoscope - Note brownish "gunk" around the edge of the shank plate. Make sure that signs of age show on any that you buy and if you see clear glue residue, think about giving it a hard pass!! |
KLEAN KALEIDOSCOPES – CAREFUL CLEANING STEPS:
1) Forget about it (and put more Bailey's in your coffee to quiet button cleaning OCD, aka BCOCD). Works for me.
2) If you must… Never hold this kind of button by the shank while cleaning! Hold button by the glass edge and turn sideways while dabbing at the glass tops gently with a barely damp Q-Tip using de-mineralized water only and leave the back edge as it is. This will usually remove surface grime from the glass. Do not allow any water/moisture to drip and come in contact with the seam of the back shank plate/glass!
3) Rust - Unless super rare, I'd just give it a hard pass for adding to the rest of my collection. The glue is probably compromised from moisture and it's impossible to tell what rust has migrated under the shank plate. Cleaning would just be too much pressure on the glue join. If you really don't care about the button, try a pencil lead to gently abrade away the rust.
4) Weird White Stuff = FUZZY WUZZY: A white powdery appearance on the glass? Could be one of two things...
Glass FUNGUS, caused by years of bad storage conditions. Hard to get rid of, but try white vinegar on a Q-tip (handle like mentioned above for cleaning) or lay only the glass surface on a vinegar dampened paper towel (in a small dish or little plastic soda lid) and put the button UPSIDE DOWN WITH ONLY the GLASS TOUCHING the DAMP toweling. Let sit a few hours. Remove holding upside down (BUT not by the shank!) and let sit on dry clean toweling upside down. Wipe gently with barely damp Q-tip to remove vinegar residue taking care no water comes in contact with the shank plate edges. Prevent fungus by keeping silica gel packs in with your glass buttons and try to inspect them each year.
Or your fuzzy is:
CRIZZLE FO’ SHIZZLE - "Sick Glass": Yikes. Like fungus, it happens when glass has been stored improperly and can present as a white powdery surface. Worse than fungus, as alkali is leaching out of the glass from small fissures. It deposits on the surface of the glass giving it a cloudy or hazy appearance. Cleaning won’t cure it but can help make it look a little bit better. Called Crizzling, tiny surface cracks are caused by the alkali loss, which leaves microscopic gaps in the structure of the glass.
It forms because the early glass makers used a high flux to silica ratio and then it was subjected to bad storage conditions for years. Glass buttons made with, or stored with other materials like cords, thread, fabric, leather, metals, bone, wood, etc. makes matters worse, and speeds deterioration (think closed up button tin or jar).
You can try to clean the top to restore the pH and stop the continued degradation if in very early stages, but it cannot be reversed or restored. There are lots of museum posts about sick glass you can read. Try some demineralized water on a Q-Tip to remove alkali on the surface. Other than that... don't buy them! Sadly, this can even happen to modern glass! It all depends on the stability of the maker's glass recipe.
Unfortunately, I can't get my hands on my buttons with this example right now (packed because we're showing the house and eventually moving!), but I'll update here and on the FBR Facebook page when I have a few in hand. In the mean time... here is an example of glass beads with crizzling I found on-line:
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| Glass beads with powdery alkali on the surface and crizzling. |
It's not contagious, so won't spread to your other buttons. Generally, it's found on 18th and 19th century glass buttons. Colored glass will show symptoms earlier than clear glass (like many of the swirl backs and paperweights).
If a glass button feels waxy or oily, don’t buy it! Dealers will sometimes try to coat sick glass buttons to make a sale. I purchased a glass button that ended up being coated with clear nail polish last year from a well known eBay button dealer. *mad face* It had Crizzling. Nope, I didn’t send it back… but I’ll never buy from them again. I've also seen them coat the surface of badly scratched glass buttons to hide the damage.
Repairing one of these if they come apart usually doesn’t give a good restoration result. I have a little box full of separated Kaleidoscopes waiting for a day when I’m bored enough to have a frustrating day experimenting with glue, tempered with a glass of wine. It’s number 8,237 on my Button To Do List. LOL
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| In other words, I'll probably never bother to fix the Kaleidoscopes! LOL |
MOUNTING KALEIDOSCOPES: Handle these gems as little as possible, and mount with a nice large hole in your mat board. The plastic cotter pins found on modern button store sales cards work great and are easy to manipulate and remove from the shanks. I save them in a small container, and save them for mounting fragile buttons.
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| Plastic Cotter Pins found on most modern button store cards. Save them! A great way to recycle plastic and super for mounting your most fragile buttons. |
If you have to use coated (telephone) wire, instead of twisting and wrapping your wire, make a large U shape, pinch the U together, and insert the 2 ends into the shank from the back of the card. Bend back each end flush with the card.
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| My (poorly drawn... *shrugs* ) example of how to use coated phone wire without twisting and wrapping it to hold your button in place. Easy to remove, no stress on the shank plate. |
Just use a method that makes it less stress on the metal plate to remove the buttons off of a card. Never pull these buttons from the front off of a card (you’ll likely find the glass in your hand and the metal plate shank still on the card!). I cup my hand over the button, remove the wire or fastener and use a pencil eraser from the back, pushing the shank out of the hole and the button into my hand. A towel or something on your table is also a good idea in case you accidently drop one of these! A small drop to a table top, or worse to the floor, is enough to cause separation of the glass and metal shank plate. Ask me how I know... *sigh*
It's best to keep these buttons in a deep shadow box glass front frame to protect them rather than put a card of them in a plastic sleeve that's crammed in with your other button cards. You can even mount in a shallow cardboard box with a removable top (like a thin candy or lingerie box) to store in your box or file cabinet of carded buttons. I've even used 1-pc folding book mailer boxes that were about 9 x 12 in size and around 1" deep. I try to mount fragile buttons (like hollow blown glass) inside of shallow boxes too.
Consider keeping Silica Gel packs (desiccant) in with your buttons to keep excess moisture off of them (see fungus and crizzling above!). I’m in Arizona, but still put them in the bottom of boxes and file cabinets holding my cards of buttons since we have a Monsoon Season here and humidity goes up inside the house for a little while. Keeping a pack inside your wood display frame of Kaleidoscopes and other glass buttons is a good idea also.
These little silica packs are perfect and available on Amazon. Put one inside the clear zip bag behind your card when storing buttons in boxes or file cabinets.
https://amzn.to/3PXoR4H = is a link to a bag of 300 of the little Silica Gel Packets available on Amazon*
*Since I share button research, tips and stuff with you all, naturally my content may contain an affiliate link or two for products I use, love and recommend because maybe you could find useful too. If you click the link and make a purchase, it won't cost you anything, but I might earn me enough from Amazon for a small cup of coffee (which we both know that I will pour Bailey's into) which will keep me from napping and motivate me to keep writing about Buttons. Thanks!
So, now we’re BOTH up to date on what a Kaleidoscope is, and what to look for to put a tray together and (maybe) compete in these some day. Another subject to put a PIN shank in and fun button to keep an eye out for! I'm excited to unbox my buttons this winter to see just what different types of these I have to card up now! I looked and I only managed to get 2 out of the glass sorting box I worked on last year on to my new Kaleidoscope work card so far (but I'll put the pin shank button on there tomorrow, so that's 3, and 3 means a collection. LOL). Maybe they'll all be carded next year?!
I love a good Button History Mystery, so hopefully more info. will surface about where and exactly when they were made! I'll keep looking.
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| Kaleidoscope glasses are not needed for finding scarce Kaleidoscope buttons, or carding them... but I think I need these in my life. Thanks Ms. Chrowl LOL |
BTW, I don't post here on my blog very often anymore, but you can follow me here to get instant notifications when I do, or come to the Flying Button Ranch Facebook page (< link) and follow me there for notifications and lots of fun button posts to read and button pics look at!
Don't forget to pop back over to the FBR facebook page from here and let me know if you have a comment or thought on these on the post that directed you here (or just say Howdy).
Thanks for reading (especially if you made it this far) and have a great time hunting for these buttons! Best of Luck!
