Here's another photograph taken for my Studio 1 lighting class. I found this glass jelly jar full of vintage buttons at a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Madison, Wisconsin over the Memorial Day weekend. While I'll find 'deadstock' buttons on cards every once in a while at a thrift store, this is the first time I've found a jar of them.

I have fond memories of digging through my grandmother's slightly rusty candy tin brimming with buttons of all sorts, my favorite were large brown Bakelite coat buttons or delicate and rhinestone-studded dress buttons. While sifting through the plastic, metal, shell and bone buttons my grandmother would sometimes share their origins-- all had been saved from dresses, jackets and shirts that were so tattered from wearings that only the buttons remained.

Jars of buttons don't exist in the contemporary home; we're encouraged to buy each season's hot new trends and discard whatever is now considered unfashionable, regardless of its condition. These jars also seem to be a product of those that had survived the Great Depression, I remember my grandmother saving everything-- including bread twist ties and odd bits of string.

For now this jar sits on a shelf in my living room, but some day I hope some of these buttons will find new life on one of my vintage shirts or dresses. I only wonder about their history and the articles of clothing they used to adorn.