A recent visit from my cousin Mitch resulted in me having temporary access to several small boxes of pin-on buttons and other miscellaneous items that my Grandpa Harry had collected over the years.
Some of you may not know this, but I was made for the work of sorting. The good Lord put it into my nature to find sorting a very pleasant and interesting activity. I consider this to be a balancing feature to the fact that He has made other people who are able to work as EMT’s, a job I could not and would not do. I am probably the very last person you would want to have around in a crisis or an emergency. Thank God for the ways in which He distributes these different giftings. Maybe EMT’s hate to do sorting of any kind and are thanking God for people like me.
All that is to say, I spent a very pleasant half hour sorting through all those buttons and geegaws. Grandpa Harry was an executive in the Boy Scouts of America for much of his career, so it wasn’t a surprise to find lots of BSA buttons and paraphernalia.
There was also a collection of stars that had been put on little felt circles. I’m not sure what those were for. Was it Boy Scouts related?
I think he must have been a regular volunteer for what used to be called Community Chest, a fundraising entity that became The United Way.
He also had a few old buttons from political campaigns. Willkie & McNary ran in 1940 against FDR. I looked – the buttons aren’t worth very much in spite of them being nearly 90 years old.
Harry also had a small collection of buttons and pins from the University of Minnesota, dating back to 1917 and 1919 and later. Over 100 years old!!
Mitch told me that Grandpa Harry was involved in some sort of Mosquito Prevention effort which involved him wading around spraying stuff. It sounds like nasty work, but at least he got a nice pin out of the deal.
Lastly, I found a bunch of old cufflinks among his things as well. There’s something innately classy about cufflinks, in my opinion.
Even the old salt codfish box that some of the buttons were stored in was interesting!
I felt like I knew Grandpa Harry better after looking at the things he collected and valued. And now I know where I get my propensity to collect little things like that.
I’ll probably have to do some blog post prevention in the morning.
Lynniebeemuseoday 
So what did you sort everything into? Do you have an available collection of old wooden boxes from a variety of fish?
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I sorted everything on top of a desk surface, but originally it was all in three smallish wooden boxes, overflowing with some of the bigger items that I didn’t show. I might have to dredge up another box to put things in if I want to retain the organizational purity. 😊
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I loved that! My mom had a lot of collections. I remember seeing an FDR pin and also a Ronald Regan for CA Governor pin. Don’t know what happened to them. But I do have her old button collection. I give my grandkids that tin of buttons and a muffin pan and they have a great day sorting those buttons, by color, by size, by shape, or whatever they decide, and love to “trade”;with each other too.
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What a fun idea! I’d love to see your button collection sometime. ❤️
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Please! No blog post prevention!
We need your blog posts!
What year was your grandfather born?
I can tell he was your mother’s father,
and I see you, Sarah and Leslie in him!
Handsome dude! I agree with you concerning
cufflinks. Ties too!
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I think he was born in 1891. I should double check that. Yes, you guessed the right side of the family. Do you have any little collections that your parents left behind?
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Nice photo, and interesting pins. The stars could certainly belong to the Boy Scouts received for years of membership. Girl Scouts also received stars for this purpose. I also have my mother’s button collection! When my kids were little I purchased two big bags of buttons (from where I don’t recall–through the mail). I gave one bag to the school for the kids to use and kept the other bag. Lots of duplicates, but I use all my buttons as a resource for my sewing (just used five of them the other day on a project).
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The word “pins” is probably a better description of most of Grandpa’s collection. Thanks for the insight on the stars, too. I got my mom’s sewing button collection many years ago and loved it, especially the unusual ones. I enjoyed picking out a few unique ones to use on the felt creatures I made. I think I also bought a mason jar full of buttons at a garage sale once – great purchase!
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