This beautiful ornament, says Mr. Hutton, appears with infinite
variation; and though the original date is rather uncertain, yet we well
remember the long coats of our grandfathers covered with half a gross
of high tops, and the cloaks of our grandmothers ornamented with a horn
button nearly the size of a crown piece, a watch, or a John-apple,
curiously wrought, as having passed through the Birmingham press.
Though, continues Mr. Hutton, the common round button keeps on with the
steady pace of the day, yet we sometimes see the oval, the square, the
pea, the concave, and the pyramid, flash into existence. In some
branches of traffic the wearer calls loudly for new fashions; but in
this, the fashions tread upon each other, and crowd upon the wearer. The
consumption of this article is astonishing: the value in 1781 was from
three-pence a gross to one hundred and forty guineas.
In 1818, the art of gilding buttons was arrived at such a degree of
refinement in Birmingham, that three pennyworth of gold was made to
cover a gross of buttons: these were sold at a price proportionably low.
The experiment has been tried to produce _gilt_ buttons _without any
gold_; but it was found not to answer, the manufacturer losing more in
the consumption than he saved in the material. There seems, says Mr.
Hutton, to be hidden treasures couched within this magic circle, known
only to a few, who extract prodigious fortunes out of this useful toy,
whilst a far greater number submit to a statute of bankruptcy. Trade,
like a restive horse, can rarely be managed; for, where one is carried
to the end of a successful journey, many are thrown off by the way.