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>        1) How common are pewter and brass buttons with flat faces as
>opposed to the same buttons with slightly rounded (convex) faces? With
>what kind of comparative frequency are convex-faced buttons found on
>archeology sites of our period? Didn't everyone use flat buttons?
 
I WOULD SAY THAT IN GENERAL, ON AMERICAN SITES THAT THE FLAT TOMBAC AND
WHITEMETAL BUTTONS ARE FAR MORE COMMON, ON SITES C.1750-1790.
 
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>        2) Which sort of button cost more to produce and thus was more
>expensive in the 18th century: one piece pewter or brass buttons, or
>two-piece buttons with a thin stamped front over a bone or wood backer?
>This may seem obvious, but the latter has been found in so many sites in
>large quantities (Ft. Michilimackinac, Ft. Stanwix, Ft. Ligonier) that
>it may have been in much larger use. Were the two-piece buttons cheaper
>than we think? Did the cost of pewter or brass fluctuate in the latter
>half of the 18th century? Why didn't armies use simple bone, wood or
>leather buttons on their uniforms to save expenses?
 
 
ONE OF THE CONCERNS IS NOT JUST THE TOOLS REQUIRED TO PRODUCE BUTTONS BUT
THE COST OF THE MATERIAL.  tHE TWO PIECE BUTTONS USE LESS METAL IN TERMS OF
WEIGHT, AND AS A COTTAGE INDUSTRY THE BUTTONS MAY HAVE BEEN ASSEMBLED
SEPARATELY FROM THE COMPONENTS.  aLSO THE MACHINERY FOR THESE TWO PIECE
BUTTONS MAY HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY SIMPLE, AS THEY WERE MOSTLY STAMPED FROM
THIS SHEETS AND SIMPLY CRIMPED OVER THE BONE BACK.  tHE ONE PICE BUTTONS
REQUIRED EITHER SPECIAL CASTING PROCESS, AND A LATHE OR SPECIAL TOOLS TO
STAMP OUT THE THICKER METAL, AS WELL AS THE EXTRA STEP OF USING SOLDER FOR
THE EYE.
 
>ONE OTHER THING .... THE VAST MAJORITY OF BUTTONS C. 1720-1790, WITH THE
EXCEPTION OF REGULATION MILITARY BUTTONS, WERE CLOTH COVERED TO MATCH THE
CLOTHING THEY WERE ATTACHED TO.  MANY OF THESE WERE SINGLE PIECE BONE OR
WOOD, BUT i HAVE SEEN SOME THAT WERE PLAIN FLAT WHITEMETAL ALSO CLOTH
COVERED.  iN OTHER WORDS IT MAY NOT HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE MATERIAL OF THE
BUTTON THAT MATTERED, JUST THE CLOTHTHAT COVERED IT.
HOPE SOME OF THIS HELPS
STEPHEN COOK
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