Forage Cap Buttons: Wire attachment

[birdseye]

Here's a nice photo of a forage cap interior. One can see the remnants of the dark lining with label still attached, but because it is disintegrated and the sweatband is missing, we can see other details as well, like the burlap stiffener or interface that went between the cap body and the sweatband. What I find particularly interesting is the wire visible on the left, apparently attaching the button.


I don't know a lot about forage cap construction or button attachment, so here's my question to you all: Is that a separate piece of wire bent around the button shank loop in lieu of sewing thread, or does the button itself have two long wires in place of the usual loop which are bent back to retain the button?

Cheers,

-Paul Canter

[DrMike]

Re: Forage Cap Buttons: Wire attachment

I have handled hundreds of pieces of original Civil War headgear, and have never seen one in which the back of the button had a long wire instead of a shank. On one cap, however, the chinstrap buttons were held on by straight pins through the button shanks, rather than being sewn on.