Simon127 Posted 4 November , 2010 Share Posted 4 November , 2010 Hi all, Am interested in finding out what the WW1 'Economy' tunic buttons looked like. These rarely come up so I'd be interested to see what one looks like. I gather they were made of compressed leather fibre but this may not be entirely true. If anyone out there owns one and could post some pictures of both the front and reverse that would be great. I was interested to read in Joshua Levine's 'Forgotten Voices of the Somme' a soldier's account of cutting the brass buttons off a dead man's overcoat as he had been issued with economy ones and wanted to replace them. Any help much appreciated, Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay dubaya Posted 5 November , 2010 Share Posted 5 November , 2010 Simon, not your full request but take a look here Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 5 November , 2010 Share Posted 5 November , 2010 In nearly 40 years of military button collecting I don't think I have ever seen a leather button embossed with the Royal Coat of Arms attributable to WW1, if anyone has one to spare heres a buyer. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Stewart Posted 5 November , 2010 Share Posted 5 November , 2010 Sure I have one at home, but am not due back for another two weeks. They're very crudely made and rarely seen, which leads me to think they weren't too popular and never taken into general wear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Sweeney Posted 5 November , 2010 Share Posted 5 November , 2010 The leather "buttons, leather, Royal Arms" are much earlier than 1917. They show up in the PVCN of July 1915 in Cap, Small and Large sizes. Somewhere I have the actual intro date and pattern numbers. I have a 1917 dated soft SD cap with leather cap size buttons on it and they appear to be original to the cap. I've seen at least two SD jackets with leather buttons--manufactured that way--which I do not own. Joe Sweeney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 5 November , 2010 Share Posted 5 November , 2010 I suppose during my days of serious collecting they weren't on the cards of many dealers or I wasn't looking, Graham if you have one spare bear me in mind please. Apologies for hijacking this thread. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Upton Posted 5 November , 2010 Share Posted 5 November , 2010 Funny how things are rare to one person, yet common to another - one of the local Bristol dealers had, at least until relatively recently, a big bundle of the pressed leather GS buttons dangling from his ceiling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robins2 Posted 5 November , 2010 Share Posted 5 November , 2010 Hi all, Am interested in finding out what the WW1 'Economy' tunic buttons looked like. These rarely come up so I'd be interested to see what one looks like. I gather they were made of compressed leather fibre but this may not be entirely true. If anyone out there owns one and could post some pictures of both the front and reverse that would be great. I was interested to read in Joshua Levine's 'Forgotten Voices of the Somme' a soldier's account of cutting the brass buttons off a dead man's overcoat as he had been issued with economy ones and wanted to replace them. Any help much appreciated, Simon if you look at Postcards forum, I posted a photo of a chap in uniform that appeared to have Black leather buttons, I will try to find it again Regards Bob R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robins2 Posted 5 November , 2010 Share Posted 5 November , 2010 if you look at Postcards forum, I posted a photo of a chap in uniform that appeared to have Black leather buttons, I will try to find it again Regards Bob R. Have a look at Post #435, appear to be black woven buttons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Upton Posted 5 November , 2010 Share Posted 5 November , 2010 Have a look at Post #435, appear to be black woven buttons. These are pressed leather "football" buttons, not woven leather - a good close-up of one can be seen in the original link Jon posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottmarchand Posted 5 November , 2010 Share Posted 5 November , 2010 I have a Royal Engineers seconded to the RFC Observor's light weight tunic with leather coat of arms embossed buttons in it at home, I'll take some pictures and post it tonight. These were fairly common in misc. dealers buttons bins in western canada in 80's and 90's and I never really thought much of them. okay its later here they are: tunic in general: buttons: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARABIS Posted 6 November , 2010 Share Posted 6 November , 2010 Attached is one of these leather G.S. buttons as in post #11 but have not been able to date it, so thanks for that. Also attached is one made of clear horn with the King's crown [backmark Jas. Grove & Sons Halesowen]. Who wore these, Volunteer Training Corps maybe, or are they just another type of economy button? David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon127 Posted 6 November , 2010 Author Share Posted 6 November , 2010 Thanks for everyones input, especially those who've managed to turn up some photos. I have seen these for sale on ebay - Buy it nows if I remember rightly but they've not appeared for some time since. Mick, (and anyone else who may be interested) I have e-mailed a dealer who claims to ahve some of these, requesting some pictures. Nothing yet but when they arrive I'll e-mail them to you and tell you who it is. I don't normally find British dealers nearly as obliging as American ones when it comes to requesting pics but we shall have to see. Best regards to all, Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vetje Posted 23 November , 2010 Share Posted 23 November , 2010 My Canadian home coming tunic; Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Regards =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 24 November , 2010 Share Posted 24 November , 2010 Theres some on ebay, this dealer is attributing them to the RFC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon127 Posted 21 December , 2010 Author Share Posted 21 December , 2010 Managed to finally find one for sale for $15 on a US Militaria Website. I did of course ask whether he had any others but unfortunately no joy. It's exactly like those on the tunic that Scott posted. Best to all and Happy Xmas, S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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