First Post of the Day
Right after Kalamazoo, I was contacted by LS, a woman in Massachusetts who wanted to buy two pairs of sleeve buttons. She's an east coast living history participant and not someone Leslie or I knew. (Perhaps she'd found my Facebook page, Jolis Chevaux?)
LS knew exactly what she wanted.
My favorite pair, the beveled oval clear "paste" set in gold,
"This is the 250th of Battle Road. [I'm] in the Hartwell Tavern doorway and yes, I have those GORGEOUS sleeve buttons on!" she wrote. "Hopefully you can zoom to see!"
I didn't get a clear view, but I could see them and tell that they were some I'd made.
Better yet, I could see that the fit was exactly right. There were no gaps between the sides of the cuff where they met. (To make them, I'd worked from photos of extant sleeve buttons in collections; I'd never seen a pair in hand before.)
Hartwell Tavern, a "witness house" to the battle on April 19, 1775. I'm more than a little excited that something I made was actually inside that historic home.
Totally by coincidence, I have a picture to send back to her.
Leslie just posted this photo of something rather familiar that was found during one of the archeological digs at Fort Ouiatenon,
A blue paste stone!
Perfect documentation for the other pair of sleeve buttons that LS bought from me!
I'm going to send that picture to LS later this morning with a note that she now can document this pair of sleeve buttons to the 18th century.
To many re-enactors, that is quite important; to others, not quite so much. After looking at her photos, my guess is that she is in the first category and will be happy to know that her second pair is historically correct.
I'm glad, too.
