Button has me Baffled

[mojjax]

H. C. & M. Co.

CAMTRIPUM

BRATTLEBORO VT.

no markings on the back

 

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[Carolina Tom]

1920s workwear button. They made denim and khaki work clothes.

Goggle: Cantripum

 

[highnam]

If this button was from the 20's I doubt it would have a wobble shank...workwear buttons from the 20's were snap or rivet.
If you didn't find it yourself, it's probabaly a reproduction

 

[villagenut]

No reason for me to think it is a repro, Move over Matt and Ben, Tom is on it.

 

[Carolina Tom]

If this button was from the 20's I doubt it would have a wobble shank...workwear buttons from the 20's were snap or rivet.
If you didn't find it yourself, it's probabaly a reproduction

I thought the same thing highnam, it looks like an old 2 piece button... however I kept running across references to it being from the early 1900s. I am no expert, but why would anyone reproduce workwear buttons... Railroad re-enactors?

"...1910's～STIFEL WABASH STRIPE COVERALL With Cantripum Button..."

 

[highnam]

I was really lucky and found a row of 14 bunkhouses that burned in a logging camp fire in 1912....the most common finds were clothng related. Over 4 years I found over 300 metal work buttons from 26 different manufacturers of clothing or suspenders.....one thing I found interesting, not a single wobble shank button. All the buttons were snap or rivet.

What else I found interesting is that the National button society actually has a category for reprop work buttons from this time period....you can see EBay covered in work buttons with wobble shanks, A wobble shank makes the button look older but I highly doubt any self respecting logger would have been caught dead in the thick brush of the PNW with wobble shank buttons on....he wouldn't have any buttons on at the end of the day...Haha.Thanks Tom for hearing me out.

 

[Carolina Tom]

I was really lucky and found a row of 14 bunkhouses that burned in a logging camp fire in 1912....the most common finds were clothng related. Over 4 years I found over 300 metal work buttons from 26 different manufacturers of clothing or suspenders.....one thing I found interesting, not a single wobble shank button. All the buttons were snap or rivet.
View attachment 1393999
What else I found interesting is that the National button society actually has a category for reprop work buttons from this time period....you can see EBay covered in work buttons with wobble shanks, A wobble shank makes the button look older but I highly doubt any self respecting logger would have been caught dead in the thick brush of the PNW with wobble shank buttons on....he wouldn't have any buttons on at the end of the day...Haha.Thanks Tom for hearing me out.View attachment 1394000View attachment 1394001

Thanks for the button lesson.

Best to you for the holidays sir!

 

[highnam]

I have seen repro buttons go for good money on EBay...seems people are fooled all the time. I think another reason you see the repro's with a wobble shank is because the button wouldn't be damaged when it either fell off or was removed. Any snap or rivet would be damaged if it was removed. My buttons had to go through a fire to get them apart from the clothing.

 

[nhbenz]

I'm going to disagree that there weren't plenty of wobble shank work clothes buttons. Anyone want to look up the July 22 1918 patent on the ones here? : 26 VINTAGE WORK CLOTHES BUTTONS-OSHKOSH,RAILROAD,PAYDAY AND MORE, 1918 Patent | #435322440

 

[highnam]

Perfect example of the repro's I'm talking about. This is a huge scam, I have contacted members of the National Button Society that are experts in work wear buttons on multiple occasions and I never received a response. If there is a demand for repro buttons because National button society allows them in their repro work clothing category, you can be sure someone is making them and passing them off for whatever people are willing to pay. How did the original poster get this particular button? Why don't you see many of these buttons (like ones I have) posted on Tnet with a wobble shank?