Every Button Has a Story: Celebrate Nat'l Button Day with Local Hands-On Workshops and Exhibits

By Barbara A. Preston for The Montgomery News | October 16, 2026

Celebrating National Button Day 

Artists, historians, fashionistas — anyone who finds buttons fascinating — is invited to join the NJ State Button Society (NJSBS) in celebrating National Button Day in one or more of the following ways: Take a class at Princeton Adult School; join a nearby by club meeting, or visit a button art exhibition at Stonebridge at Montgomery. 

On Monday, November 16 (the actual National Button Day), the Stonebridge at Montgomery art gallery will be open from 1 to 4 pm or by appointment. The retirement community is located at 100 Hollinshead Road in Skillman. For information email ButtonsinNewJersey@gmail.com. 

Buttons on the New Jersey State Button Society website.

Buttons 101

Enrollment is open for “Buttons 101; Every Button Has a Story,” at Princeton Adult School. This hands-on workshop at Princeton High School on Tuesday, November 10 from 6 to 8 p.m., is taught by NJSBS members Barbara Figge Fox of Princeton and Skillman, and Susan Freeman.

Whether you are fascinated with their artistic quality, or eager to examine their construction, or seek to delve into their history, you will receive vintage and antique buttons to make a “button sampler.” Email info@PrincetonAdultSchool or call 609.683.1101. Cost: $40. 

The 1789 George Washington inaugural button, sold at auction for $225,000 in 2018, according to The New York Times.

Founded in 1941, the New Jersey State Button Society stages free events: spring and fall shows in Titusville, monthly club meetings throughout the state, and occasional gallery shows.

NJ State Button Society members will help participants make a button sampler at a Princeton Adult School class scheduled for November 10, 2026.

Club meetings include the Mercer County Buttoniers on Monday, November 16 at 7 pm at the Lawrence Library, 2751 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence Township. The Jersey Shore Button Club meets Wednesday, November 18 at 1 pm at the Ocean County Library, 30 Station Road, Bayville. The Central Jersey Buttoniers meets Thursday, November 19 at 10:15 am at the Somerset County Library, 1 Vogt Drive, Bridgewater.  

0nline resources include NewJerseyStateButtonSociety.com, WorldButtonAssociation.org, and the National Button Society’s weekend of virtual classes from November 13 to 15, free to those who register by sending an email to buttonu@Nationalbuttonsociety.org.