Age of Navy button please.

[Dug]

Hi; My daughter came across this Navy button and was hoping to determine how old it is. Best I can guess it is Post Civil War to 1941 since the fluke is in front of the anchor and the Eagle faces to it's left. The raised letter in depressed channel back mark is one that I have not seen before and my cursory searches on the web have not found anything.

Assume this was not a typical clothing button given the attachments on the back.

 

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[fyrffytr1]

I think you have a cap device. This device first appeared in 1880. The U.S.Naval Clothing Factory probably did not make them, only uniforms.The button and cap device were most likely supplied by one of the button making companies that existed then. The one button with this backmark has the same front but the lettering on the back is impressed while the cap devices backmark was raised lettering in a depressed channel. The button had a normal shank while the cap device had the pins. Your device should measure 31mm.

 

[Dug]

I think you have a cap device. This device first appeared in 1880. The U.S.Naval Clothing Factory probably did not make them, only uniforms.The button and cap device were most likely supplied by one of the button making companies that existed then. The one button with this backmark has the same front but the lettering on the back is impressed while the cap devices backmark was raised lettering in a depressed channel. The button had a normal shank while the cap device had the pins. Your device should measure 31mm.

Thanks. Since this is a post CW period item I cannot research it very well and have yet to find anything on the web on the B.M. other than fabric markings.

 

[fyrffytr1]

It seems there is very little information about the U.S. Naval Clothing Factory. Even the authors of the reference I used stated the same. The reference used was "American Military Button Makers and Dealers; Their Backmarks & Dates" by William F. McGuinn and Bruce S. Bazelon.

 

[Red-Coat]

It seems there is very little information about the U.S. Naval Clothing Factory. Even the authors of the reference I used stated the same. The reference used was "American Military Button Makers and Dealers; Their Backmarks & Dates" by William F. McGuinn and Bruce S. Bazelon.

There was more than one such factory. The earliest reference seems to be in an 1886 medical journal where the Naval Clothing Factory at the New York Navy Yard is given credit for improving the health and comfort of sailors (apparently by ensuring they have a standard issue of appropriate clothing). The factory is referred to elsewhere as being in South Brooklyn and was probably part of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

A New York Times article from 14 August 1899 mentions the “placing of a naval clothing factory on the Pacific Coast.” There is also a reference in a biography of a sailor called Edwin G. Hill that he “served in U.S. Naval Clothing Factory, Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C., from July 26, 1918, to June 2, 1919.”

At some point in time, it appears that the U.S. Navy decided that it no longer needed its own clothing manufacturing operations, uniform production was fully contracted out, and the term “Naval Clothing Depot” takes over. Clothing depots (as opposed to factories) existed before WWII. The Navy Clothing Depot in Brooklyn was established on 1 July 1933 for example, but the change in responsibility seems to have happened shortly after WWII. The 1947 Navy uniform regulations include a clause that says “Standard samples of uniforms and insignia, as approved by the Bureau of Naval Personnel, shall be kept at the Naval Clothing Depot.” By contrast, the 1905 regulations say “Standard samples of every article mentioned in these regulations shall be kept at the Naval Clothing Factory.”

[Credit to Bob Hudson on the US Militaria Forum for this info]

 

[Dug]

Thank you so much Red-Coat. I get the feeling this button likely dates to WW1 and your reference seems to match.