The Button Jar

As promised, The Button Jar, published in The Hometown Journal on Aug. 24, 2005:

"I got ready to hem some pants the other day and in looking for some thread to match the fabric, I ran across The Button Jar.
Of course, this is really not my Button Jar. The collection was started by my Mom. At one time, it had every type of button imaginable--from small pearl-like buttons to the big metal types. It also had fancy buttons for ladies' blouses and sturdy non-descript ones for men's shirts.
The reason Mom had a Button jar was because when I was growing up, things were tough in the Lee household, and my Mom's mantra was "waste not--want not" so our clothes were worn until they were definitely well-used. Even then, at that point, Mom would salvage enough from each item of clothing to make quilt blocks.
She was an excellent quilter--known for her tiny, straight stitches, and relatives who lived out of town yearned for one of her quilts, but Mom made her quilts for her kids and grandkids,
and occasionally, for a friend.
Back in those times, a whole card of small pearl buttons probably only cost one dime, but she removed buttons from the garments, and also zippers and anything else that might be used on another piece of clothng, and then the fabric was cut up.
I was the only one of her kids living in town at the time of Mom's death, and somehow I ended up with The Button Jar, although I really don't remember how it came to my house.
As the kids were growing up, it seemed that one of us was always in need of a replacement button, and it certainly came in handy.
Of course, I'll pass this tradition on to my kids, but it won't be as impressive as it was when I took the jar to my home, as Mom always kept the jar filled, but I'm afraid I deplete the supply, rather than add new buttons to it.
For many years after Mom's death, I was careful to cut buttons off of clothing I was going to throw away, to put in the jar, but somehow, I got out of the habit.
My Mom has been gone many years, but I still miss her and, oh! what I would give to see Mom's hands reach for the old Button Jar once again."

Note: After stirring up all of these memories, I hunted up The Button Jar and gave it
to Shari--so now the third generation is in charge of it--and hopefully Shari will pass it on to Brandi and Brandi on to her daughter (as yet unborn--due in April). Ah, traditions. Aren't they great?