🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Date range of flat button

[LostinGeorgia]

Can’t find anything about this. Says Freeland Harris & Bowen. PHILA. Assume it is pre civil war but would like to narrow down date if possible. Thanks in advance.

 

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[ticndig]

Study construction method to get a date range.

 

[The Rebel]

While that chart is helpful it doesn't cover everything. I'd say probably 1820s.

 

[villagenut]

Weird how the makers mark doesn't come up in any of my searches.....curious minds want to know

 

[LostinGeorgia]

Seems

Weird how the makers mark doesn't come up in any of my searches.....curious minds want to know

Seems like I spend more time trying to find out info about my finds than I do actually finding them. Not a totally bad thing though since it is hot as hell outside in the afternoons. Thanks for looking.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Villagenut said:
> Weird how the makers mark doesn't come up in any of my searches.... curious minds want to know.

Friendly advice for anybody here who doesn't already know:
The backmark on a button does not always tell the name of its maker. Many, (in fact most,) of these brass 1-piece flatbuttons had what at that time wwas called a "Custom" backmark... meaning, the Customer chose what the mark would say of show. Often, it is a simple "quality declaration" such as Superfine or Rich Orange. Sometimes, the Customer chose to have his own company's name be the backmark (as a way of advertising his business or store) -- not the Manufacturer's name (Such as Scovill or Waterbury Button.

In this case:
Like Villagenut, my research did not turn up a backmark saying "Freeland Harris & Bowen Phila." But I did find that a person named Freeland Harris invented and patented something in 1965. Yes, that is a long way from this flatbutton's time... but it cautions us that sometimes the first name in a backmark is simply a person's actual first name. Thus somebody here might find a record of an 1820's Philadelphia company named Harris & Bowen.

About LostinGeorgia's flatbutton:
The presence of indented (not raised) letters in a brass flatbutton's backmark seems to first start appearing around 1810... and continued until 1-piece flatbutton's fell out of favor with the public around 1840. The War-of-1812 interrupted the supply of British-made buttons from 1812 throuh the end of the patriotic boycott of British goods in the early-1820s. The absence of British "competition" gave a majpr boost to the fledging American button-making industry during that time... so I agree with The Rebel's supposition that this one was made sometime in the 1820s... or perhaps the early-1830s.

 

[invent4hir]

Seems

Seems like I spend more time trying to find out info about my finds than I do actually finding them. Not a totally bad thing though since it is hot as hell outside in the afternoons. Thanks for looking.

Agree. For every hour I spend in the field I can spend up to 10 cleaning, preserving, dating, and identifying an artifact. That helps me to figure out its story when donating to the local historical society. My motto is "Every artifact has a story to tell if we're willing to listen".

 

[Mud Hut]

In the 1834 edition of the United States Gazette, Feeland & Harris appears on a list of merchants who signed some memorial in Philadelphia.

 

[LostinGeorgia]

Villagenut said:
> Weird how the makers mark doesn't come up in any of my searches.... curious minds want to know.

Friendly advice for anybody here who doesn't already know:
The backmark on a button does not always tell the name of its maker. Many, (in fact most,) of these brass 1-piece flatbuttons had what at that time wwas called a "Custom" backmark... meaning, the Customer chose what the mark would say of show. Often, it is a simple "quality declaration" such as Superfine or Rich Orange. Sometimes, the Customer chose to have his own company's name be the backmark (as a way of advertising his business or store) -- not the Manufacturer's name (Such as Scovill or Waterbury Button.

In this case:
Like Villagenut, my research did not turn up a backmark saying "Freeland Harris & Bowen Phila." But I did find that a person named Freeland Harris invented and patented something in 1965. Yes, that is a long way from this flatbutton's time... but it cautions us that sometimes the first name in a backmark is simply a person's actual first name. Thus somebody here might find a record of an 1820's Philadelphia company named Harris & Bowen.

About LostinGeorgia's flatbutton:
The presence of indented (not raised) letters in a brass flatbutton's backmark seems to first start appearing around 1810... and continued until 1-piece flatbutton's fell out of favor with the public around 1840. The War-of-1812 interrupted the supply of British-made buttons from 1812 throuh the end of the patriotic boycott of British goods in the early-1820s. The absence of British "competition" gave a majpr boost to the fledging American button-making industry during that time... so I agree with The Rebel's supposition that this one was made sometime in the 1820s... or perhaps the early-1830s.

Thank you. Knew some of this but always hoping for more info. Thanks again

 

[LostinGeorgia]

In the 1834 edition of the United States Gazette, Feeland & Harris appears on a list of merchants who signed some memorial in Philadelphia.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Almy]

This is a really helpful discussion for me. Thank you all!