Object Description
A button hook with rounded triangular handle made of bone (marrow markings) and three tiny metal pieces on both sides to hold the bone in place. The bone reaches about halfway up the steel where the steel has been cast in a decorative manner.
Origin
Elias Howe came up with what he called "an automatic continuous clothing closure" in 1851.
It was a further 40 years before another American, Whitcomb Judson, patented a similar "Clasp Locker," but even that was only ever used for fasting shoes, seen from the first time at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.
Buttonhooks are as old as buttons themselves but certainly from the mid-Victorian era until just after the First World War. For boots with more than 50 buttons a piece or jackets, waistcoats, gloves, spats and corsets.
Rights and Reproduction
The content on this site is made available for research and education purposes only. The use of these materials may be restricted by law or the donor.
Any other use, such as exhibition, publication, or commercial use, is not allowed except by written permission in accordance with the
NHM Image Rights and Reproduction Policy.
For questions on image rights and reproduction, please contact
nhmcollections@hellenicmuseum.org
Citation
Buttonhook, 1900, 1800 – 1900, National Hellenic Museum, https://collections.nationalhellenicmuseum.org/Detail/objects/5832. Accessed 03/19/24.