People Profiles

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Button Bytes Light Profiles:   LISA SCHULTZ, of Madison, Wisconsin

     Lisa Schultz began playing with her mom’s button box when she was just a kid. Now an adult, she’s doing more than just playing with buttons; she’s made a business out of them, too!

     "At the age of 9 I decided I wanted to collect buttons," Lisa said. "Everyone our family visited would let me look through their button boxes. I collected through high school and accumulated 10,000 buttons. After high school I pursued other interests."

     After her mother warned Lisa that the collection was taking up too much space, and urged her to move it, Lisa took the buttons, and started to look through them as she thought about what to do with them. "In looking through it I got hooked again!" Though most of those buttons were not valuable collector’s items, Lisa found a few very special ones: a hand-carved ivory button from India, made in a girls school run by a missionary friend of my family, and an ususual large black glass button layered like a tingue, and with some carving in the middle of it.

Lisa's carved ivory button from India acquired at age 9 (3/4" diameter).

Lisa's tingue construction button acquired at age 9 (5/8" diameter).

     Today, Lisa has a collection specializing in realistics, glass, and bakelite. Her youngest son has shown some enthusiasm, but not as much as her husband, Al, who encouraged Lisa, and the two of them formed Button Images.

"Al does most of the computer work involved with our business," Lisa said. "I work with the buttons, getting approvals ready, filling catalog orders, and getting ready for shows. We have developed a catalog of display products used by button collectors. (If you have not seen our catalog, please check out our web site or write for a catalog.)"

     Although still in search of the elusive pierced moonglow, she’s had her share of luck, she admits. Lisa bought several buttons from a friend, and one day, she was given one as a gift. Her friend told her "this is an ugly button I probably won't be able to sell it even though it might be a bit unusual. I want you to have it." Of course, Lisa said, she said thanks and took it. That button, "turned out to be an 18th Century Habitat button with a little cat and two little mice in it along with various little pieces of plant life."

     Not content to just play and sell buttons, Lisa has tried to give her time and knowledge to others, by serving as Treasurer of the Wisconsin State Button Society Board, and serving as Treasurer for the 1997 National Button Society show in Madison. She is also a member of the Madison Button Club.

Button Bytes Light Profiles:   HELEN ROIZ of Castro Valley, California

     "About five years ago I discovered some austrian tinies at an antique show," said Helen Roiz. "They caught my eye and I was hooked." She’s been looking for information about buttons ever since.

     She doesn’t have a favorite type of button, but she likes animal motifs. One of Helen's favorites is an "enamel whippet with paste." "It’s is so unique and beautiful." (We at BBLight agree, since we have a thing for whippets, both real and button-related :)

     During a business trip to New York, Helen bought two 18th Century en grisaille enamels for a good price, not at Tender Buttons, but from another source. Until she can find a few more, she warns that "I keep my eyes open all the time for new and wonderful things to tempt me."

Button Bytes Light Profiles:   JOAN NATHAN of Snodland, Kent, United Kingdom

     "Everyone thought I was mad," Joan Nathan said. She bought a cabin trunk full of buttons at an auction 15 years ago, and "when the trunk broke as we carried it out, I was scooping buttons from the floor! I have been hooked ever since."

     Joan loves all kinds of buttons, but her favourite part is looking up the story that goes with the picture. She’s still looking for a really old Wedgwood button.

     Joan has started a business called Sew On & So Forth, and she is very knowledgable about livery buttons. She also collects small sewing items, and has a dog trained for agility competition.