Posted 9 months ago
dav2no1
(825 items)
J. V. Pilcher's Bachelor Buttons
Circa: 1917
My sister found this cool old box at a local antique dealers garage sale. The last patent date is 1917. I've seen other buttons packages from the early 1920s. This appears to be the earliest one. They did not waste one bit of advertising space on the box.
Known as Bachelor Buttons, these buttons do not require sewing onto a garment. The pointed stud is pressed through the fabric and the button portion is snapped onto the stud.
BEFORE THE BEGINNING
John Vache Pilcher was with Henry Pilcher & Sons, 1879-85, a pipe organ manufacturer.
THE BEGINNING
In 1885 he founded the J.V. Pilcher Manufacturing Company which was later located at 715 E. Gray St. in Louisville. They were the only company of its kind in the southeast and before WWII averaged 180 employees.
WHAT DID THEY MAKE?
Amazingly they produced 10,000 to 20,000 women's compacts a day as well as cigarette cases, vanity sets and several other metal products. Its products were sold internationally.
WWII AND THE "E" AWARD
During WWII it manufactured military uniform buttons, incendiary bomb casings and water-tight ammunition containers. As a result of its WWII efforts, in October 1945 the company was presented the Army-Navy "E" Award for Excellence in Production. The award consisted of a special "E" flag to be flown above the plant and lapel pins which every employee could wear as a symbol of their contributions to the war effort.
BOUGHT OUT
After the war the company was facing competition from plastics manufacturers and on January 1, 1953, the plant was sold to the American Saw & Tool Co., of Louisville.
** I had to goto a different browser to find a few links with history. I also contacted the Kentucky Historical Society for info. But they're not open till tomorrow. I may send the piece to them for their collections as they don't have one.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116389056/john-vache-pilcher
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1920s-pilchers-detachable-buttons-2059283094
KooL button box ,,Benjamin ,button
Forgot to mention it...there are vintage buttons inside but not the original ones.
dav2no1, Whoops, I am behind times. >8-0
Here are the US patents (your boy Pilcher had some others, too):
https://patents.google.com/patent/US1051849
https://patents.google.com/patent/US1226692
https://patents.google.com/patent/USRE14342E/en
And yes, compacts:
https://collectingvintagecompacts.blogspot.com/2013/09/vashe-and-pilcher-once-more-famous-than.html
Here's a little mood music:
*snip*
I Am The Walrus (Remastered 2009) · The Beatles
Magical Mystery Tour
? 2009 Calderstone Productions Limited (a division of Universal Music Group)
Released on: 1967-11-27
Producer: George Martin
Composer Lyricist: John Lennon
Composer Lyricist: Paul McCartney
*snip*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1Jm5epJr10
So, OK, I'm cheating a little on the lyrics };-) :
https://genius.com/The-beatles-i-am-the-walrus-lyrics
Kera - Thanks..I was thinking about you when I posted the picture of the box flap with the patent information. And that was a great link..I missed that one. Some beautiful cases they made. I will have to keep my eye out for some.
dav2no1, No prob. :-)
Any time my eyes see any word starting with "Pilch," my inner ear hears the opening bars of "I Am the Walrus." };-)
That might be because I'm not British. Brits might immediately recognize a word like "pilchard."
Gonna go out on another musical limb after spying the term "La Chic at that vintage compact link:
CHIC - Le Freak (Official Music Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXgSHL7efKg
Probably the most interesting thing to me about Chic and "Le Freak" is the Nile Rodgers connection. David Bowie, among others, worked with him:
David Bowie - Let's Dance (Official Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbD_kBJc_gI
Rodgers is an interesting guy.
The explanation of his middle initial was interesting..Vashé..and how in French it's related to cow. I was thinking Vash the Stampede..Trigun anime..lol
See, my Vash connection is Star Trek:
https://www.startrek.com/database_article/vash
One of those Vash episodes produced an immortal Worf quote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zmK-Sn2Ss0