dating buttons
Celluloid was the very first man made plastic but it wasn't completely synthetic. They were also made into shapes like flowers or animals. I've seen several different suggestions to clean these. There are also some notes on buttonmakers included in the page 'Brass buttons have been made by the million and in a variety of designs that excites specialisation within the hobby.
Being as careless as I am about my apparel, I cannot even remember the color of the shirt, much less of that missing button. It should also be noted that this book also helps with dating the buttons it held as the pink label inside the front cover displays the date the book was opened on 17 June 1892; therefore all buttons in the book will most likely post date this.
do i need to clean dug civil war buttons - Lucite is the trade name of a poly-acrylic resin that was used to make buttons in the 1930s.