Button

Description

Brass buttons commemorationg George Washington were produced to be worn by members of patriotic organizations early in the 1800s. By the middle and later 1880s when such buttons were inherited or excavated in gardens and by-ways from New England to southern states, they were published in local newspapers as items worn during the President's first inauguration, but to date, no documentation supports this custom. However, nearly two dozen stamped or cast designs with variations of his initials "GW" and mottos like "LONG LIVE THE PRESIDENT" survive. This button's specific design incorporates the initials for each of the 13 original states inside interlocking ovals. The motif was adapted from the 1787 copper "fugio," the United States' first official cent.