1200,000,000 BUTTONS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 74, 6 July 1942, Page 2

1200,000,000 BUTTONS

MOSTLY FROM COAL FOR BRITAIN'S NEW "UTILITY" SUITS A.boiil ,200 million buttons moulded ['roil) plasiL- materials are v,'anted for the "utility" suits designed for war-lime wear in Britain. Before the war most of Britain's button.-; were of vegetable ivory. Now the hulk of them arc moulded from the by-products of coal. Although not popular before the war, these plastic buttons are much preferred to-dav for they do not break in the mangle and they reta'.n their finish indefinitely. For trousers they are better than tin buttons they have no sharp edges to cut tlie thread. One factory where the utility buttons are being made is at present producing them at the rate of something like 100,000,000 buttons a year. By the end of this year their rate will be in the neighbourhood of 300 millions; and this tripled output will be secured with a staff of only 200 workpeople. One machine recently installed, turns out 5700 waistcoat buttons an hour, while battledress buttons, 36 ol' which are required on each suit, can be made at the rate of 2880 a(n hour. In two months' time this one factory will be producing 864.000 battledress buttons a week —enough for 24,000 soldiers. Soon the brass buttons of the Army and Royal Air Force will also be replaced with moulded buttons to save valuable supplies of brass and copper not to mention time in cleaning.