Sticky button cards

Throughout the whole 20th century buttons were displayed and distributed on button cards. I have some lovely Art Deco cards from 1930s, but also some more modern ones from 1960s. The buttons were usually sewn to the cards. I once met a woman who was delighted to see my button cards because they reminded her of her youth: she used to live in Paris, where she sewed the buttons to the cards for a large fashion firm.

Anyway, somewhere around 1950s-1960s someone had one of those 'brilliant' ideas to make things easier and instead of sewing - glue the buttons to the cards, usually using an adhesive tape. I saw this method used all through the 1970s and 1980s!!

Apparently, this looks easier. You spent much less time attatching the buttons to the display and if you rip them off, you do not let the rest of the buttons loose (which was the case of sewn cards).



However, there is a certainly important drawback of this way of attatching the buttons. The glue is so good that it usually stays on the buttons for good. They simply get sticky. Other times, the glue has deteriorated over time, which causes the buttons to fall off the card. Still, the backs and shanks are usually dirty with some white substance that once was glue.

As these buttons can be really nice pieces, I try to recover them. For this I use 96% alcohol, which works well with most kinds of glue. I simply apply some on a cotton pad and rub to surface until all the glue is gone. Sometimes I have to leave them soaked in the alcohol (it does not damage most of the modern plastic buttons). The glue disappears pretty easily after a few minutes or rubbing.

This will work

I would not try this on casein and tagua nut buttons, and some wooden buttons either, though, as their dyes and paint may not be durable. Luckily, those are usually old enough to be sewn to the cards, so no alcohol is necessary. Yet, it has worked well on my plastic buttons.

As you can see, not as bad as it seemed initially.