In the first inauguration of a freely chosen president of the United States in 1789, President-elect George Washington appeared in  New York “…dressed in deep brown, with metal buttons, with an eagle on them…”, according to William Maclay, a Pennsylvania Senator.   As would happen in decades to come, merchants saw a chance to sell souvenirs of the occasion and they would be clothing buttons similar to the ones worn by the president-elect.  Many versions were created.  Some carried Washington’s initials “GW”, others had slogans such as “Long Live the President”, or designs of eagles and stars.  One popular version was a link of thirteen chains representing the original thirteen states at the time.  The photo shows a few of the designs from a collection since sold at auction.  To find an authentic 1789 inaugural clothing button takes a very special knowledge of the many designs.  Visit http://moscow2.pld.com/kirk/CobbGW/FULD.TXT for a quick course and a complete PDF format of the clothing buttons known to exist.   Be aware.  There are many reproductions being sold as authentic on public as well as private auctions and sales.  However, a true original could bring $2500 to $4500 at auction.  Some common ones are still available for several hundred dollars, though.

Tags: George Washington, inauguration, Jim Warlick, metal buttons, political collectible, presidential memorabilia

This entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 1:13 am and is filed under Articles, Blog Entry, Clothing (Historic), Clothing Accessories, Fraternal, Political, Organizations, Political, Textiles, Clothing and Accessories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

View all articles by jimwarlick.