Bust Button

This little darling has seen some traffic. It used to live a life of daily struggle on a blouse about bust level; it was always endanger of losing its grasp on the buttonhole it was supposed to hold. There was great strain on that particular part of the blouse. The button reached its limit one day when the owner was running for a bus. The button finally lost its grip for good and fell into the street where it was run over repeatedly by grinding buses. Claw marks are evident.

Diminutive Pearl

For comparison to the previous post, I offer this little mother of pearl button, which was found on the Bowery. It had been there a while - about a hundred years I'd say - judging by the fact that it was sitting in a pile of dirt and gunk dug up for some median construction. Every time they dig in this city, as in any city, they're digging through history. And this button popped up.

I'm pretty certain it was part of a petticoat worn by an hourly harlot sometime shortly after the end of the Civil War, when that neighborhood was loaded with brothels. You can tell by looking at it that the button had other ideas for itself; figured it was destined for an outer garment, not underwear. So it hooked onto the side of the laundry pail and popped off. Too bad it then bounced off of the floor, into the air, and then right down between the floor boards. Only to resurface 100 years later in a pile of yellowish brown clay-like mud.

And, no, we still don't have time machines or jet-packs.

El Gigante

I don't know if I should serve a meal on it or sew it to a peacoat big enough for a walrus. Bigger than a poker chip and about as thick as an Oreo, I found this monster in a crosswalk in midtown. Maybe it got tired of the big-button short jacket look and bounced.

Sarah Palin's Button

It matches her glasses that are now all the rage. Speaking of rage, I would like to point out Palin's support of rage. For instance, when an enraged man rapes a woman, Palin supports forced birth of the product of such rage. This, I suspect, would enrage the husbands of the raped wives, the fathers of the raped daughters, and the raped women too.

I wouldn't recommend ordering a pair of Palin's glasses because it's pretty obvious that she can't see too well with them. They, and the button depicted here, are examples of the running-for-emperor's new clothes.