James Morley required sturdy uniform buttons to make his sewing machine invention function properly. His machine attached buttons to high-button shoes. Morley eventually gave up on the sewing machine and stuck to buttons. By 1899, his plant had moved from Beverly, MA to the Portsmouth, NH. It was the largest of its kind in the world.
This is the cover of a “magic button” sampler box used to advertise the Morley Button Factory on Islington Street in the city’s West End. Now a haven for creative artists, the brick “Button Factory” was once a major Portsmouth industry. Inside the “buttonaid” box was a healthy supply of buttons and a button-shaped booklet sales called “Tremendous Trifles.” It featured a button-shaped mascot who looked a lot like Speedy Alka-Seltzer.
Among the handy tips, the booklet suggests that mom cut down dad’s suit for junior. A brief history of the button (from the French “bouton”) is included with a healthy supply of durable, almost unbreakable, molded plastic buttons from Portsmouth, NH. The thriving Button Factory, an arts community, is now famous for it’s annual Holiday Craft and Art sale.
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