Why me?  I have been collecting buttons since about 1979 and  actively engaged in primary & secondary source research for more than twenty years.  I have accumulated a significant quantity of research material  much of which has proved very useful in dating buttons, trade cards etc. in  my collection and those of other collectors.  I am currently making  as much of that research as is legally possible available through this website and the series  of booklets listed.  What appear to be different  projects are  only aspects of my main interest  which is the history of the  manufacture & manufacturers of buttons.  I have tried to progress the research evenly  which is the main reason for  the incomplete sections. Many of my databases  are not publishable due to copyright infringement;  for example the obverse design catalogue I use is an amalgam of photocopied buttons from my collection & many many additions from the excellent works of:   E. Hughes & M. Lester; P. Ingham; H. G. Parkyn; H. Ripley; G. Squire;  D. Froggatt,  ebay &  many other sources.

Why now?   the last 10-15 years my activities have been severely constrained by the requirements of bringing up my children¹; which has had an enormous impact on publication dates for the backmark catalogue, the objectives of which constantly changed , as I became more familiar with the wealth of material in archives all over the country.  I have still been accumulating bits and pieces and slowly working on what has emerged as a series of notes taken from a multitude of interrelated papers.  Prompted by an incident  last year, 2006 when out  button hunting²  I finally accepted , as several people have been telling me for some years now, that although the research is incomplete  there is clearly a market.   I decided that instead of an endless round of- I'll wait to publish until I've completed this or that objective  I would have to set  a particular date  and publish some of the more useful notes as they are; hence the titles of the series.  Future publications, if any,  will depend entirely on the response I recieve from my initial offers. 

Why Retail? I will continue to add to the free  pages available here,  (the time and effort is a labour of love), but research is an expensive business; besides a lot of people seem to have a definition of the word exchange somewhat at odds with mine.

Ideally by the end of 2008 I would like to be in a position to start work on the alphabetical series in the  London & Birmingham Directories,   (a time consuming process which I anticipate taking many months of work); unless of course I am able to purchase the film version of the London Directories,( which, last time I checked,  some time ago as it  seems to rise every time, retailed at  about £7500),  significantly reducing the time spent in Libraries and the cash spent in getting there, photocopies etc...any rich collectors out there with no time for research and a philanthropic attitude should contact me 10 years ago..lol.

1  Take it from me you do not want to try as constant interruptions are not exactly conducive to accuracy , (neither is burning the midnight oil when you have to be at work by 6am) - and financial considerations again children are not cheap.  The children are older  now and don't need me as much as they did - they even seem to have stopped trying to kill each other on a regular basis. 

 2 An antiques dealer used a photocopy of what I recognized as my own, unpublished, notes from the early 90s'  to try to sell me, although he could not identify it as such,  an early East India Company Marine button;  basing the, (I thought),  extortionate price on its age alone; I'm glad I already had an example!

4 Given the sheer volume and  the expense of the research it's highly unlikely that certain aspects  will be finished in my lifetime anyway, unless of course I get an overwhelming response on this site, best not hold my breath tho....