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We live
in a world of buttons, don't we? There
are Mouse Buttons (left and right); pierced
Belly Buttons (ouch!); Panic Buttons (where's
mine when I need it?); Remote Control Buttons;
and of course, decorative garment buttons.
You may not think about
your buttons until one is broken or missing,
but they were actually quite an innovation in
garment design when they burst on the scene
in the 1200s as a way to hold garments in place.
Who holds the record
for the most buttons on one garment?
You'll have to read on -- we'd hate to spoil
the suspense!
You're
on your own in caring for your pierced belly
button, but we certainly take a great deal of
time to ensure your garment buttons are treated
like the little gems they are.
This week. learn more about what we do with
your buttons, and enjoy a few links to St. Patrick's
Day items -- including, of course, shamrock
buttons.
Happy
St. Patrick's Day, and we hope
to see you soon!
Ed and Mary Longanecker
Iris City Cleaners and Laundering Company |
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Irish
Blessing
May
those that love us love us;
and those that don't love us
may God turn their hearts;
if He can't turn their hearts,
may He turn their ankles,
so we'll know them by their limping. |
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Lucky
Coupon!
Are you Wearin' O'
the Green this Wednesday? If you go to
a St. Patrick's Day bash, you're bound to spill
on it, too. So,
have three regular items drycleaned and we'll
do a green garment or one with shamrocks on
it at no charge. (Include
the first page of this e-mail with your order. Offer
expires March 20, 2004. Cannot be combined
with other offers.) |
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Buttoned
Up History
Many of us are fast
approaching the moment when we take the Internet
so much for granted that we forget how to look
up information in any other way. Everything
seems to be there, from the obscure to the obvious.
Let's face it, Button History is one of the
more obscure.
Buttons were ornamental
until about the 1200s when they became what
we know them to be today -- indispensable gizmos
for connecting fabric to fabric with style.
Like any fashion trend, though, some people
took it to extremes. When
King Francis I of France was going to meet Henry
VIII of England (a clothes horse if there ever
was one) he had his jeweler create 13,400 gold
buttons, and put them all on one black velvet
suit! Aside from being
blinding in the sun, it's probably a wonder
he could even stand up in the thing.
What's
with Left and Right?
If you've ever tried
to get away with wearing a man's shirt (if you're
a woman) or vice versa, you know that you're
busted if it's got buttons on it. For
some bizarre reason, men's shirts have the buttons
on the right side, women's on the left.
Who thought of that stupid idea?
Actually, it had its
basis in logic (believe it or not.) Most
men are right handed, and traditionally dressed
themselves, so the buttons were set up to make
it easier for them. Women, by contrast,
often used a ladies' maid (most of whom, again,
were right-handed) who were facing the buttons
when using them, not behind them as was the
woman being dressed. Therefore, tailors
and dressmakers went along with the request
to reverse the buttons on women's garments.
Like many things
in this world, even though this practice has
outlived its usefulness, it's never been challenged
and so never been changed.
Big
Button Business
How important have
buttons been through the years? Consider these
bits of trivia:
- Louis XIV loved
jeweled buttons, and is reputed to have spent
the equivalent of $600,000
for them -- for ONE garment!
- The British Army
used 367 different
kinds of buttons during World
War I (talk about inefficiency!) A button
was considered as necessary to front-line
troops as bullets, and any
kind could be requisitioned and delivered
within 8 hours. The
British also liked to polish their brass buttons,
and spent a half million dollars a year just
for the paste that they used for this purpose.
- Those
useless buttons on the sleeve of a man's suit
coat? They were added
to keep soldiers and seamen from using their
sleeves as... well... handkerchiefs.
Want
to Learn More?
Try these links for
more on buttons and their history.
- Greenberg
& Hammer -- Button trivia, button care,
types of buttons.
- Historic
Buttons -- this site, called "No One's
Business" has buttons that can be used for
historic costumes and much more.
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Buttons
and Drycleaning
You probably think
we just check to see if your buttons are all
there, and replace those that are missing or
broken. Wrong! There's a lot more
to it than that.
- Some
buttons are made of polystyrene, and will
actually dissolve in drycleaning solvent.
These must be removed before cleaning, and
resewn afterwards.
- Some
buttons are a threat to garments in the machine.
If a garment has buttons with sharp edges
or facets, we will either remove them or cover
them with special covers to protect your garment
and others.
- Some
buttons can be covered tightly with heavy
foil and the garment put into the drycleaning
machine without damage to the buttons.
After cleaning, we carefully remove all foil.
- Buttons come in
materials as diverse as bone, plastic, ceramic,
fabric, glass, leather, metals, pearl, rubber,
stone, and wood. Just
as we do with your garments, we test buttons
to see what procedure will be best for the
garment AND the buttons.
You can trust us to do our best every time.
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We
are enormously appreciative of the opportunity
to share our weekly newsletters with you.
We feel that much of the content is valuable
for anyone who purchases fine clothing and is
interested in their preservations and cleaning.
Click on the symbol to the right if your would
like to send this and future newsletters to
a friend.
Thanks a million, Ed and Mary
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The
Iris
City Cleaners Connection
is
a weekly news letter dedicated to the interest
of fine garment care and restoration,
and conservation. It is published
in Mt Pleasant, Iowa by Iris City Cleaners and
is an extension of our services described in
www.iriscitycleaners.com
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