Button fanatics descend on Portland for annual convention
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Button collectors show off their goods. Photo: Emily Harris/Axios
Hundreds of button lovers are in Portland this week for the National Button Society's annual convention.
What's happening: The convention includes competitions, sales and talks on topics like why artisan Toshikane buttons, made in Japan starting 100 years ago, have fascinated U.S. collectors but were not generally sold in Japan.
- If you're button-curious, the best days to stop by the convention at the Holiday Inn on North Hayden Island Drive are Thursday and Friday, when vendors will be operating and most button talks are happening.
Why it matters: Like any group of collectors, button lovers are their own breed. Talk to a few and you too might start to think of buttons as not just fashion fasteners, but icons of history, science, art or even celebrity gossip.
Fun facts: Lucite, first used for airplane windshields, also became a popular material for kitschy buttons.
- Lacy glass buttons are sometimes painted, adding color to their delicate patterns.
- Steve Jobs, button lovers claim, had koumpounophobia, evidenced by his strong aversion to buttons, including on gadgets.
Of note: Prices change with collecting trends, with people paying from next to nothing to thousands of dollars for buttons they collect.
- Lori Franz, president of the Oregon State Button Society, tells Axios the most expensive button in her collection is a souvenir from George Washington's inauguration that cost $2,500.
- "It was, like, the first campaign button. But it really was a button; it wasn't a stick-through. It was a button that they would sew on," she says.
Full disclosure: I'm not a collector, but my mom ran a fabric store and I grew up wowed by bold buttons that by themselves could make an outfit.
The intrigue: When I sat down with Lori and other local button lovers Holly Derderian and Sally Filler, none of us were wearing clothes with buttons.
- Sally had on a pair of button earrings. Perhaps a sign that buttons are becoming less used and more collectible?
What's next: The convention kicked off Monday and wraps up Saturday. The bulk of programming takes place Thursday, Friday and Saturday between 10am and 5pm. It's free to attend, but educational talks are $25 for button society members and $35 for nonmembers, with tickets at the door.