Buttonhook

Early 20th-century buttonhook advertising a shoe shop in Michigan

A buttonhook in use on a c.1900 boot

A buttonhook is a tool used to facilitate the closing of buttoned shoes, gloves or other clothing. It consists of a hook fixed to a handle which may be simple or decorative as part of a dresser set or chatelaine. Sometimes they were given away as promotions with product advertising on the handle. To use, the hook end is inserted through the buttonhole to capture the button by the shank and draw it through the opening.^[1]

History

Although the buttonhook may have been known earlier, it is ascribed to Elias Howe, who patented the idea back in 1851, but never commercialised it. Whitcomb Judson, over 40 year later took a similar idea to the market. His patent was called "Clasp Locker" and was originally for shoes. As the hooks could be made of various materials, they quickly spread among all social classes.^[2]

Buttonhooks on display in Bedford Museum

• 
  With handles of horn and wood
• 
  With handles of silver
• 
  Trench art buttonhooks
• 
  Pocket knives with buttonhooks

References

External links

• Silverdale Buttonhooks
• 2013 Exhibition of Buttonhooks, Buxton Museum & Art Gallery, Buxton, Derbyshire, U.K.