DIV IV - Button Covers & Shoe Button Covers  (Page 2)

The purpose of this section is to provide background and examples of button covers and shoe button covers as defined in Div IV, Section 3 in the NBS Classification Guide1 (Blue Book). This page is devoted to shoe button covers and page 1 of this section is devoted to button covers. 

Shoe button covers found their way onto the fashion scene in the early 20th century. As Victorian mores faded, the high top shoes with buttons, popular in the mid to late 1800s, started to be replaced by lower cut shoes that actually showed the ankle. They usually had a strap that crossed the instep and fastened on one side with a small utilitarian button. With the approach of the roaring 20s, a growing trend developed to cover the usually plain shoe button with an ornament we call the shoe button cover (see example at right.) This, of course, would serve to call more attention to the footwear and the ankle. More importantly, they would dress up the shoe for evening wear. In this period, many other ornamental devices were manufactured that attached to the tops, sides and even heels of shoes to satisfy fashion demands. Only the shoe button covers are shown here.

It is no surprise that shoe button covers were popular with many button collectors since they were button-like in size and appearance and came in a wide variety of wonderful designs. If it were not for this section devoted to shoe button covers, they would meet all the criteria for costume trimmings. They can usually be identified by the attachment feature or shank on the back which fits over the shoe strap and often has a "U" or "Omega" shaped bar that allows them to slip onto the strap and around the shank of the button. However, some earlier versions had a straight shank, sometimes set to one side of the cover. There are also some with spring type mechanisms that allowed the cover to be applied directly to the button without sliding on the shoe strap. The 1928 US patent¹ on the left shows how the shoe button cover with "U" shank was applied. Links to four examples of button cover patents are shown here.

Shoe button covers were manufactured in a wide variety of face designs, shapes, and materials with backmarks being common. Materials included metals (all colors), glass, celluloid, and enamel. Construction techniques included cut steels, moveable parts, and openwork designs. Many types of other material embellishment (OME) and decorative finish (DF) can be found. They may be competed as single covers or in pairs, the latter being more difficult to find. These general features follow a similar pattern as for Division I, III, and IX buttons  Back types, which give the shoe button cover its distinguishing feature, is defined by Class 3-2.1, and includes the omega, modified omega and centered or offset straight shanks. Class 3-2.2 allows and supports writing awards that focus on specific characteristics such as material types, construction techniques,  decorative finish (DF), other material embellishment (OME) and pictorials. See the footnote at the end of Div IV listing in the Blue Book. Note that the labeling on the following examples identifies some but not all the possibilities for specific design features.