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Of the numerous antiques coming on the market, one of the most affordable and relatively easy to find in recent years has been antique buttons. While prices on oil cans, documents, insignia and other items has risen sharply over recent years, that of uniform buttons has remained fairly stable. To realize that each and every uniform button was actually worn daily by a lighthouse keeper or life saver brings the collector a unique satisfaction in adding such an item to his or her collection. With just a bit of care and planning one can easily build a nice collection of the various designs and styles used by each of these services, sometimes for less than $200.
Alphaeus H. Albert, in his Record of American Uniform and Historical Buttons, classifies uniform buttons into three major groups or types:
Type I is a one-piece button made by casting or molding with the shank being an integral part of the button itself. Buttons of this type are generally flat, with the image on a plain field without a border.
Type-II is a two-piece button invented in England in about 1813. The button is made of two pieces, a front shell upon which a design is “struck”, and a back plate to which the wire “eye” or loop is attached, usually by brazing. The two parts are fastened together by rolling the edge of the front shell over the back plate. Buttons of this type are usually convex, gilt with the device on a plain or lined field. A border may be present or not.
Type III buttons were produced for Army staff officers and are similar to the two-piece button except that a separate narrow flat rim holds the front shell and back piece together. Buttons of this type are usually convex, gilt with the device on a plain or lined field. A border may be present or not.
A fourth variation was a reversible button. This type consisted of a gilt front shell with a black composition back. A threaded shank held the two pieces together. The button could be removed and reversed to show the black composition back, presumably to protect the gilt side when performing dirty or difficult work. This type was used by the Life-Saving Service for a short period during the early years and has become extremely rare and desirable.
Though button and field shapes were generally circular, the field on early Revenue Cutter designs was oval.
The first button design of the Revenue Cutter Service was of a one-piece design, but all subsequent designs were of a two-piece design. Buttons of the Lighthouse Establishment (and later Lighthouse Service), Life-Saving Service, and Coast Guard were of the two-piece design. Pictured are the three button designs used by the Lighthouse Service over the years. Note the variation in the first design with the addition of periods after the letters.
Most, though not all, buttons were marked on the back (backmarked) by the manufacturer with impressed letters indicating the company name and location (see illustration). These markings changed often and can be a useful aid when trying to establish a time period for a button’s manufacture. There will be more on this in a later column.
By 1883 uniforms began to be prescribed and regulated by the Light-House Board. Keepers were now issued a complete uniform and were required to wear the proper uniform at all times. Prior to that time no uniform was required, though some keepers may have provided themselves with a suitable hat or coat. Lighthouse buttons may sometimes be dated by image design. More often than not documents and regulations of the day did not specifically mention changes in designs as the years went on, but sometimes overall designs were pictured. The 1884 regulation requiring uniforms mentioned only the prescribed buttons but did not describe the design. Some researchers feel that the intertwined USLHS design may have been used during this initial period, though we can’t yet be sure. The Horstmann Bros. & Co. Light-House Service Equipment catalogue for 1893 described the buttons as gold-plated and in three sizes: coat, jacket, and vest size. They also described a black rubber button used for overcoats. However, they did not mention the design. In the Light-House Service Uniform Regulations for 1893, regulation buttons are described as “...triple gilt on brass. The outer rim to be slightly raised, inside of which, arranged circularly, are to be the letters U. S. L. H. E. There will be three sizes of buttons: 1”, 3/4” and 1/2”. The medium (3/4”) button to be worn on serge or flannel suits.” By 1907 when the new uniform regulations were issued, the button design had now changed to the later lighthouse design, triple gilt on brass but still in the same three sizes. Particularly subtle changes in design such as the addition of periods after initials (U.S.L.H.E.) or changes in border design were generally made without mention in the documents.
In addition to the uniform regulations and button references, another useful tool for dating insignia designs continues to be photos of the period. Knowing the date of the photo by the photographer, process, or other clues in the image can provide proof positive of the use of various insignia at the time. I do suspect though that in some cases tradition or sentiment may have led many keepers to carry on with some uniform practices in spite of regulation changes, and thus later photos may still show an earlier uniform style.
Utilizing the many clues that we have we can begin to paint a picture of the uniform requirements of the day and the changes that they underwent, and where the individual buttons that we can find fit into the organization’s history.
In future columns we will talk more about backmarks and dating individual buttons, replicas, and more. Next month we will take a look at some questionable insignia coming on the market and give you some pointers help you know what you are buying.
Jim Claflin is a recognized authority on antiques of the U.S. Lighthouse Service, Life-Saving Service, Revenue Cutter Service and early Coast Guard. In addition to authoring and publishing a number of books on the subject, Jim is the owner of Kenrick A Claflin & Son Nautical Antiques. In business since 1956, he has specialized in antiques of this specialty since the early 1990’s. He may be contacted by writing to him at 30 Hudson Street, Northborough, MA 01532, or by calling 508-393-9814. You may also contact him by email: jclaflin@lighthouseantiques.net or visit his web site at www.lighthouseantiques.net
This story appeared in the
July 2001 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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