Even before federation there were “protectionist” versus “free-trade” views on promoting the Australian manufacturing industry. Post Federation, the subject of raising or lowering tariffs on goods such as buttons would continue to arise over the years.

The Great War caused many disruptions to manufacturing, with some goods and materials becoming unavailable, and some factory’s outputs completely turning over to the requirements of  war. In Germany, due to the lack of local supplies of brass, nickel and tin, all loose pins, hooks and eyes as well as metal buttons were confiscated for use in munition production. Only carded buttons and packets of pins and hooks could be sold. Although circumstances weren’t quite so extreme here, shortages still occurred.

Freeman & Co, North Footscray:

In December 1929 ‘Freeman & Co’ were granted permission to start a factory for production of bone buttons. They were still in operation in 1931.

On the 29th August 1934 this article was published in the Daily News (Perth) detailing the growth in the button manufacturing industry in Australia at that time.

Published 1st June 1935 in The Australian Women’s Weekly  (NB: Herculoid was a celluloid product made by DuPonts).

PLASTICS:

 From around 1908, dairy producers started exporting casein (a milk protein) to America and  England for the manufacture of casein plastic products. According to ‘An insight into Plastics’ by BTR Nylex Ltd.,  the plastics industry started in Australia around 1917,  with buttons moulded from imported phenol-formaldehyde powder being among the first products manufactured.

While shell, wood, glass and metal buttons were still common, plastic became more and more dominant. This was  driven by the technological developments and demands of World War 2.

CELLULOID:

As early as 1856 a form of ‘celluloid’ was developed,  although it was not until the 1890s that celluloid buttons were produced.  Many ‘pin-back’ buttons were produced and sold in Australia from circa 1900 on ‘Button Days’ for fund-raising.  Collecting these is a popular hobby.

It could be a dangerous industry, due to the highly flammable nature of this plastic. Factory fires, some fatal, occurred both here and overseas. A later form called cellulose acetate was cheaper and less flammable than cellulose nitrate. It was used to make buttons in Australia by companies such as Leda in the 1950s (sometimes trademarked as  ‘Permaloid’.)

BAKELITE:

According to ‘An Insight Into Plastics’ by BTR Nylex Ltd. in 1917 buttons were moulded from powdered phenol-formadehyde  (a.k.a. Bakelite)  imported into Australia.  Moulded Plastics (Australasia) Pty. Ltd. made ‘Duperite’ products from 1932. These included  buttons for the Australian Military Forces between 1940-44.

CASEIN:

 Casein plastic (a.k.a. Galalith, literally meaning milk-stone or ‘Erinoid’) was first presented in 1900.  It was an inexpensive and more humane alternative to ivory, horn and bone products.  Casein was favoured for button production because it wasn’t flammable like celluloid and could be produced in many colours. It also polished up to a beautiful luster. Initially Australian-made casein was mostly  exported to markets such as Canada, the USA, England and Japan where it was made into many products including buttons, buckles, and combs. Many people bemoaned the fact that, just like with so much other Australian produce, it was exported only to be re-imported as value-added objects. A newspaper report from December 1929 stated that ‘no buttons were (being) manufactured in Australia.’ However, this is incorrect, as the Herrman’s were producing casein buttons in the 1920s (see the General Plastics page). In 1935 at the North Coast National Exhibition, casein buttons, products of Norco, were displayed.  In the collection of the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney is a casein formaldehyde button made in 1944 by General Plastics. Although it is claimed to be ‘one of the earliest… to be manufactured in New South Wales’ this is  again a mistake as explained in a 1945 a newspaper article;  ‘For many years, Australian factories have been making buttons from casein plastic;  one enterprise alone makes 45 million buttons.'(Sydney Morning Herald 30th January 1945 page 2)

Some controversy occurred when it was claimed that weevils had been eating English-made casein buttons.  Mr Riddle, manager of Milk Industries, denied this. ‘I can set your mind at rest regarding the fears that beetles and mice eat into the buttons. This does not occur at all with casein buttons, but is a common complaint with vegetable ivory nut buttons. Casein buttons are not attacked by any pest, and will keep indefinitely unless they are immersed in water. This information will probably enable you to set the minds of yours friends at rest, and also to recommend them to use the casein button instead of the inferior imported ivory nut.’ (Northern Star, Lismore,  5 July 1934). I’m not sure he was a disinterested party if the following article was true….

At various times during the 1930s  submissions were made to the Tariff Board about imposing duties onto imported casein sheets. Some wanted the local casein production to be encouraged and local button production increased. Others in the fashion industry were concerned that not enough colours could be made locally, and that the fashion industry would suffer if importation of casein was made more expensive.

CERAMICS/POTTERY:

MANUFACTURERS:

Some of these manufacturers remain a mystery as only brief mentions of them exist.

A. Favell Pty.Ltd., Melbourne:

This Melbourne company  started in 1910, producing buttons for the military between 1933 to 1940.

 

Australian Buttons and Buckles Pty. Ltd., Sydney:

See the Covered Button page. They also made casein buttons.

Buttons Ltd/Button Manufacturing Company, Sydney:

Cashall Pty. Ltd., Melbourne:

This private company was incorporated in December 1933 and continues today. The name came from the directors’ surnames, Cash and Marshall.  It was previously known  as Cashall Button Co. and also Cashall Manufacturing Co. They were located at 114 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, then later at 8 Sydney Street, Collingwood. The company was involved in button manufacturing, plastic molding and casein production.

 

They started out manufacturing things a little larger than buttons, like the charcoal gas producer below.

Cooper & Cooke,  Glenhuntly, Melbourne:

Cooper & Cooke ceramics, in Glenhuntly, Melbourne, was set up in 1937 by Albert George Cooper and Thomas Cooke to make porcelain flowers. According to this reference https://trove.nla.gov.au/list?id=90404  “During the war years they made insulators, buttons, casseroles and coffee pots for the Army.” Afterwards they made jugs, vases, urns and dishes.  The firm moved to Long Gully in Bendigo in 1976 and closed in 1996.

see: http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictoria/gid/slv-pic-aab89908

Cushioned Heels Limited,  Carlton:

 In 1938 Sandals Pty. Ltd. converted to a public company and changed their name. As expected with a name like that, this company produced moulded heels for shoes. They operated at 15 Macarthur place, Carlton until 1951.

Erinoid Products, Melbourne:

The advertisements at the bottom shows that this plastics firm became a button manufacturer. It spanned over 10 years.

E. W. Tilley, 123-131 Latrobe Street Melbourne:

Ernest Wilberforce Tilley lived from 1890-1983.

In 1935-6 this manufacturing firm was referred to as a die-shop then in 1937 as a bakelite factory. Later it was described as a plastic moulder. In 1944 the government was leasing out factories that had been used for war supplies, and ‘F. W. Tilley’ (sic) was listed as ‘producing plastic buttons and accessories for Service and civilian needs’ in an ex-ordinance component factory in Hamilton, Victoria. In 1945 the name was changed to Tilley Plastics and in 1947 it was publicly listed. It was struck off in 1982.

F.H. Edwards, Melbourne:

This was a plastic manufacturer that produced buttons for the military during WW2. In 1937-8 they were located at 460A Queen Street, opposite the Queen Victoria Market. Later they were located at 52 Lyndhurst Street, Richmond, until at least 1955.

H. Arendsen & Sons Pty. Ltd., Melbourne:

Henrik (Henry) Matthew Arendsen was born in Melbourne in 1914  after his parents immigrated from Holland in 1912. He was a die-sinker, and started his metalware company before 1938.  His sons would later join the business. It appears to recently been re-named  as Stormor Shelving, a tailoring trimmings and supply firm. They produced metal buttons, buckles and other goods for the military in WW2.

H. & J. Metal Co:

Registered in December 1941, this was a short lived business, as it was listed as in receivership in 1944. They did supply the military with steel buttons in 1942 and 1943.

Laughton Ltd. (Rainsford),  Sydney:

The parent company was the British company Stratton that started in 1860 producing knitting needles. It merged in 1920 with the companies Jarrett and Rainsford, makers of haberdashery and jewellery. In 1928 the company of  ‘Jarrett,  Rainsford and Laughton Ltd’  established the subsidary ‘Rainsford Ltd.’,  later ‘Rainsford Pty Ltd.’, in Sydney. Initially they were importers only,  but later set up manufacturing as well.  In  February of 1935 a large fire in an adjoining building caused an estimated 25,000 pounds damage to stock.

This company also produced uniform buttons during WW2.

McMonnies & Geary, Manly:

All I have found out is that John David McMonnies (1909-1967) and Patrick Leo Geary were both listed as clerks in the electoral rolls.

Moulded Products (Australasia) Pty.Ltd.  Melbourne:

Nally Ltd., Sydney:

In 1927 an electrical engineer, Herbert Anthony Marshall, started a company called Nally Products Limited that produced plastic products including ‘Nally Ware’,  plastic kitchenware made from phenol resin. The company was in liquidation in 1930 but re-born as ‘Nally Limited’ and continued until bought out in 1990. They produced plastic buttons for the military in WW2.

Norco (North Coast Co-operative),  New South Wales:

http://www.norco.com.au/about-norco-history.php

 In 1935 Norco purchased a casein factory at Lismore from S.M. Cottee and Sons. Its main use in Australia at that stage  was for glue used in the plywood industry. However, at an exhibition that year, Norco had displays of casein products, including ‘buttons of  many attractive shapes and colours’.  Later they would also include items such as buckles and dolls heads!  Local people bemoaned the fact that overseas manufacturers were using Australian casein to make products to sell back to us, and that more should be made of the industry.

 Perfection Plate,  Sydney:

This was another business whose primary business was not button manufacturing but who produced uniform buttons during WW2. It was established by ‘Silverbrite Electroplating Company’ in 1925. The company continues today as Perfection Plate Holdings, and includes Stokes Badges, the remaining part of the business started in 1853 by Thomas Stokes.

Raynors Pty. Ltd., NSW:

Raynors were engravers who expanded into die-casting and general metal engineering.  They operated from at least 1932 and were deregistered in 1996.

Rider and Bell, Sydney:

Rider and Bell is a light engineering firm established in 1920. It is now located in Peakhurst, but in the 1940-50s was in Rhodes, Sydney. The Library of N.S.W. has some photos of the manufacture of fireman’s brass helmets at Rider and Bell in 1958, which is nice as I now have a bunch of Fire Brigade buttons.

Sheridan’s,  Perth,  West Australia:

Sheridans Badges is a family firm started in 1913 in Perth by  Victorian born Charles Sheridan.  It had large military contracts in both WW1 and WW2. See http://museum.wa.gov.au/research/research-areas/history/sheridans-badges and http://wanumismatica.org.au/medalists-badge-makers/sheridans for more on the history of this company. The buttons below are backmarked ‘Sheridan Perth’.

 

T. H. Cheese, Sydney: