Original Poncho Spring Hook Button 1862

[Thomas Alleman]

Check this out. Has anyone seen ths before?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=230209640386&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=013

[Dan Munson]

Re: Original Poncho Spring Hook Button 1862

Jarnagin and maybe some other dealers offer re-pops of these. As your news article suggests, there were apparently a number of these sold (not issued) during the war. I don't think I've ever heard/seen any estimate of how common they were.

Now whether this EBay item is real or faked...who knows at this distance? But since there are commercial re-pops of these out there, caveat emptor!

FYI: You can use one of the "J" hooks on your knapsack to the same purpose.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Re: Original Poncho Spring Hook Button 1862

There have indeed been many of those excavated in campsites, and I've seen a couple originals in private collections, including one pictured at www.ejtmercantile.com (under "museum"). Jarnagans, E.J. Thomas, and Regimental Quartermaster have all sold good reproductions of them the last few years.

[Jimmayo]

Re: Original Poncho Spring Hook Button 1862

I have seen these dug in late 62 and 63 sites in Suffolk and around Antietam but not any earlier or later. May just be coincidence though. They are not one of the frequently dug items. Most had iron hooks which rust off and if you don't look close, it looks like an eagle button with the hook rusted off.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Re: Original Poncho Spring Hook Button 1862

I've got two original Cincinnatti newspapers that have them listed for sale in the classified ads along with several other soldier goods like knife, fork, & spoon combos, gutta percha and gum rubber goods, etc, and those are April and August issues from 1864. They are the only ads I've personally seen for the button hooks, but I've seen some originals that were purported to be from mid-war camps. The originals I've seen up close had very thin wire hooks of iron that look like they were cheaply made and would fall apart pretty quick, which probably accounts for the camp finds, and having used repros of these for some time, I've gotten better mileage out of the knapsack j-hooks.

[Jimmayo]

Re: Original Poncho Spring Hook Button 1862

Here are two. The plain eagle is iron back and iron hook. The smaller eagle I is non dug, lead filled and has a pointed hook. As you may be able to tell from the tag on the plain eagle one, it was dug at a union camp in Maryland near Antietam. The plain eagle is as close a replica to the one David Jarnagin sells.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Re: Original Poncho Spring Hook Button 1862

Thanks for the images, Mr. Mayo. The eagle with "I" is the first one of that type I've seen. All others were the same plain 3/4 inch eagle button. Have you ever seen any that were backmarked?

[Army30th]

Re: Original Poncho Spring Hook Button 1862

S & S told me they get theirs from Regimental, and I think he said Regimental got them from Jarny. I've seen them on Jarnagin's website, but have only seen them for sale thru S & S and Regimental.....

[Jim Mayo]

Re: Original Poncho Spring Hook Button 1862

Thanks for the images, Mr. Mayo. The eagle with "I" is the first one of that type I've seen. All others were the same plain 3/4 inch eagle button. Have you ever seen any that were backmarked?

All the dug ones I have seen have iron backs and hence, no backmark.

I can't be sure the little one is period. It is the only one I have seen like that and since it was not dug, I just don't know. The face looks period but it's stll a mystery to me.

For what it's worth, about 4 or 5 of these things have been found in one fort in Suffolk. That is more than I have seen come from any one place. I am thinking the regemental sutler for some of the troops rotating through that fort must have stocked them. The low recovery rate may also be attributed to the amount of iron present in the hooks and button back. Many machines will try and ignore this amount of rusty iron and miss the brass part entirely.