Historical information

Sally Hearn (1932–2018) was a dedicated button collector and a prominent member of the Victoria Button Collectors Club. Her button collection was featured as a primary display in the 'The Melbourne Story' exhibition at the Melbourne Museum, which opened in mid-2008. Her display of over 10,000 buttons, ranging from 19th century military brass to mid-century glass and plastic served as a miniature history of Australian life and fashion. Portions of the button collection remained on public view at the Museum for over a decade.

Significance

The button collection is historically and aesthetically significant in that it illustrates the textile and manufacturing history of Melbourne:
* Textile History – how fashion and manufacturing changed over the 19th and 20th centuries;
* Material Innovation – how early buttons were made from shell, horn, and bone, later moving into elaborate plastics and metals; and
* Identity – how buttons can be 'institutional', representing uniform details from transport, military, or civil organisations.

Physical description

Collection of catalogued buttons in six trays, annotated by Sally Hearn and forming part of 'The Melbourne Story' which opened in 2008. Individual items are linked to this 'parent record'.