Get hooked…
on buttonhooks. You may have little practical need for buttonhooks today, but as a collector’s item they are compact, widely available and come in a variety of sizes, materials and shapes being lovely to display.
So, what exactly is a buttonhook? Think of a time when dressing was a complicated affair, especially for the fashionable Victorian lady. Tiny buttons securing gloves, tight fitting leather button-boots and masses of small buttons on bodices all required daily fastening. With the assistance of a buttonhook there was less bending and easier manipulation of tiny buttons and holes.
The less wealthy, children and gentlemen also had their dressing difficulties, those associated with stiff materials and heavy leather. Buttonhooks were useful in all walks of life.
Often made of steel with a rounded blunt hook that sat firmly in a handle of wood, bone, mother of pearl, silver and even gold, they grasped the buttons and eased them through the holes. The size of the hook and handle varies, with longer heavier boot hooks up to 19 inches and delicate glove hooks as small as 1 inch.
A little piece of social history, such a small pretty but unassuming item can illustrate the past and help us understand a bit more about the way of life of other generations from the 17th – 19th century.
