The Buttonhook Society is currently holding its annual exhibition at Milton Keynes Museum.
A wide range of buttonhooks are on display, from tiny to large, from steel to gold, from plain to highly ornate and pictorial.
To set them in the context of fashion of the time, button boots for adults and children are on show together with gloves, collars and other related items such as glove stretchers and powderers.
A little girl mannequin welcomes visitors with a case full of material of particular interest to children.
Specialist cases feature advertising on buttonhooks, those made with beautiful enamel handles and a wide selection of handles of natural materials such as mother of pearl and tortoiseshell.
There are buttonhooks associated with World War 1 and those with 'tool sets' designed to maintain gentlemen's hats. Themed selections include sport, music and dogs and there are twenty four drawers full of hooks and related items featuring theatres, writers and fictional characters - to name just three.
Look for brightly coloured dresser sets, legs and the longest buttonhook known to collectors.
The Buttonhook Society has international membership. It promotes research into the history and origins of buttonhooks and holds extensive archives with over 50,000 entries. Books are published which are available to members only and there is a bi-monthly newsletter.
The exhibition continues until the end of August.
For more information click here
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