New Jersey State Button Society

Welcome to the world of buttons!

Do you have a jar of buttons you know nothing about?

Are you interested in antiques, history, sewing, or quilting?

Do you have a passion for learning about different time periods in history?

Or do you just like the tiny objects that are “the world’s smallest antiques?”’

This website – the New Jersey State Button Society — can help you. Our members share an interest in studying, collecting, and preserving clothing buttons, both old and new. At our twice-yearly shows, you can ogle beautiful buttons, learn about them, and maybe get some for yourself. We also offer other opportunities about the history and general knowledge of buttons. Welcome to the New Jersey State!

Our shows can help you. With the theme of Fairy Tales and Fables the New Jersey State Button Society will present its Spring Show and Competition on Saturday, May 13 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Union Fire Company Fire Company and Rescue Squad Hall, 1396 River Road (Route 29), Titusville, NJ. The Fall Show will be Saturday, May 9, same time and place. Antique buttons made from enamel, glass, metal, and ivory, plus a wide variety of other modern and vintage buttons will be on display and also available for purchase. Admission is free, and YOU are invited.

Our presentations and club meetings can help you. We offer local club meetings in Bridgewater, Lawrence, and near the Jersey Shore. Our speakers make presentations at historical societies, clubs, and quilting guilds, and we give classes at the Princeton Adult School. On this website you can view past programs on Shell buttons, Black Glass buttons, fashion history, buttons as art, and more.

Being a member can help you. NJSBS members receive two bulletins issued in the Spring and Fall. Annual dues are $10, payable by December 31 for the following year. Fill out the form and mail your check made out to NJSBS to Membership Chair Theresa Heulitt, 21 Frilham Lane, Manchester NJ 08759. We also recommend joining the National Button Society.

SPRING 2023 JUDGED COMPETITIONS: Division IX (Any Age). Use NBS Blue Book
2023.

VIRTUAL COMPETITION DUE APRIL 1

1) VIRTUAL COMPETITION: Sec. 10-1 thru 10-15 Metals, 20 Any Size, Specialized
to Pictorials as follows: 5 each of the following: Sec 17 Animals; Sec 18-11 Sports
Game Equipment; Sec 19 Plant life; Sec. 20-5 Children, mount in Groups.
Remember there are no people allowed in Section 18-11. Look for different types
of metals, shapes, sew-thru. Label at least one of each type metal. Label a back
mark for an extra point. Jersey Shore Button Club, $10, 6, 4.

FOR IN-PERSON JUDGING ON MAY 13

2) Sec 10-5.6, Steel Cups, 20 buttons, 5 Large, 5 Medium, 5 Small, 5 Free Choice.
Include variety of OMEs, shapes, a variety of pictorial sections. Use a magnet to
make certain buttons are steel cups. Bergen Button Club. $15, 10, 5.
3) Ruth Berry Memorial Award, Limited to those who did not win a ribbon in this
award in 2019. New entrants encouraged to participate. Cl. 17-0 through 20-24,
25 Any size. Pictorials assorted specialized to black glass. Label pictorial class
number and mount in order. Heirs of Ruth Berry. $50-30-20.

4) Section 16-1, 15 Any Size, Materials Summary. Limited to those who have
never won a ribbon in judged competition. Look for 15 different materials and
label material. Try to include the three shapes – linear (other than round),
realistic, and contour. Also try to include at least one pictorial button from each of
the 4 pictorial sections 17 thru 20. Lorraine Grinka $25, 15, 10.

SPRING 2023 MOUNT AS YOU PLEASE/POPULAR VOTE: Entries must be vertical
and about 9×12 inches.

5A) Fairy Tales and Fables. To illustrate the theme of Spring Show 2023, create a display using at least 3 buttons of either fairy tales, or fables, children’s tales, or all three. $10, $6, $4, President’s Award. These are picture buttons specific to classes 20-3, 20-4, 20-20 and 20-20.1

5B) For Novice Collectors- Fairy Tales, Fables and Children’s Stories – Use at least 3 buttons of any type to illustrate the above. Must label buttons as to which story they represent. i.e. a wolf for red riding hood or a gingerbread house for Hansel and Gretel, etc. $10, $6, $4.

6) Spring Flowers in Needlework, creative needlework project that incorporates
buttons. Project must be framed or in a plastic sleeve. $10, $6, $4. Sponsored by
the Princeton Chapter of the Embroidery Guild of America.

FALL 2023 MOUNT AS YOU PLEASE/POPULAR VOTE: Entries must be
approximately 9×12 inches or a close size variation – i.e. 10×10. These will be
displayed vertically on the racks.
1) Clear and Colored Glass Assorted. 15 any size, specialized to 5 Red, 5 Blue & 5
Realistics any color. Bergen Button Club. $10, $6, $4.
2) Fruits and Vegetables of the Garden State, 15 any size, specialized to New
Jersey crops. No balance required. Jersey Shore Button Club. $15-$10-$5.

SPRING 2024 JUDGED COMPETITION
1) Sect 17-5.6 Horses, Sect 18-7 Horseshoes, Sect 20 – Other Pictorials that
include Horse(s), 15 Any size, with 5 in each Section. RE: sect 20 – you can have a
horse pulling a cart (20-22), or man playing polo (20-17) etc. In memory of Ann
Wilson who loved horses. Jersey Shore $15,10,5. Look for assorted materials,
shapes, usage, movable.