Perhaps loose buttons may be an indication of where the wash water was pitched. Especially in a hotel, the washerwoman may not have been quite as particular about caring for the shirts, and the occasional button could have detached in the wash tub and been discarded. I'd think a frugal wife would watch for that sort of thing, find the detached button, in the wash water and sew it back on the shirt. But in a hotel with a few male residents that might not have happened.
My family also ran to button boxes, even a generation removed from the farm.
Susan
Susan Houghton
Laboratory Supervisor
Cultural Resources
Burns & McDonnell
9400 Ward Parkway
Kansas City, Missouri 64114
Tel: 816-822-3900 x2264
Fax: 816-822-3515
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