‘Wonderful city’: Hundreds of button collectors get a taste of Appleton for convention

Indiana native Matthew Brown never intended to become a button collector. He just sort of fell into it.

Brown moved to France about 30 years ago, and had a friend back in the United States who liked to share buttons with her young nieces and nephews.

“If I found a button at a flea market or something that I thought was cute, I’d send it to her and say, ‘You can have this for the kids and enjoy it,’” Brown recalled. “And then I started finding ones that I didn’t want to send away, and I kept them. And so now I have a collection.”

Brown is one of hundreds of button collectors and enthusiasts who are in Appleton this week for the National Button Society’s annual convention, which runs through Saturday at the Hilton Appleton Paper Valley hotel.

The convention brings together people from across the U.S. and abroad. The event allows collectors to visit an array of dealer booths, attend informational sessions and come together over a shared passion.

It’s the fifth time the convention has been hosted in Appleton. Last year, it was held in Portland, Oregon. This year’s theme is “La Joie des Boutons,” which is French for “The Joy of Buttons.” 

This year’s convention showcases how button-makers in Paris helped elevate the craft in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Under the rule of Louis XIV, king of France from the late 1600s to the early 1700s, elaborate, artistic buttons on clothing became viewed as a sign of wealth and prominence in society, according to Convention Manager Nancy Fink.

“Between England and France in the early 1700s, all the way to the French Revolution in 1789, those are the great, great ideas of buttons,” she said. “In our show, you will see wonderful examples of those buttons.”

Fink said the National Button Society rotates where it hosts its conference between the East Coast, the Midwest and the West Coast. 

“Appleton is a wonderful city. We think it’s a typical American mid-size city, not top tier (in size), but with all of the facilities,” she said. “Everything about Appleton just really is wonderful, and the whole Fox Valley area.”

Convention attendees who spoke to WPR agreed with Fink’s sentiments. Franco Jacassi traveled to Wisconsin from Italy to attend the convention. He said he arrived in Appleton while the community was in the midst of hosting its annual Mile of Music event.

He called the event, which sees a 1-mile stretch of the city’s downtown filled with live music performances, “fantastic.”

“I didn’t know how many people arrived, but (it) was incredible,” he said. “Never seen in my life.”

Another convention attendee who’s enjoyed his time in Wisconsin is Jean-François Moisan, the mayor of a small village in France. He said he enjoyed getting out of the hotel and taking a walk along the Fox River.

“The river is very nice, and you feel very safe,” he said. “I’m on holiday. Maybe that’s the reason why I’m so relaxed, but I like it very much.”

His only complaint was that he couldn’t find a place to rent a bike. 

“I went to two or three bike shops somewhere, and they don’t rent bikes,” he joked. “That’s a suggestion for the future because when you come for two or three or four days, you’re, obviously, not going to buy a bike. You can rent one, and I would have liked it.”

Sonia Collard came to Appleton from Australia, and said she’s enjoyed the city so far as well. She complimented the local food scene and the Wisconsin hospitality she’s encountered. 

But Collard said last year’s convention in Portland had an “extra special” meaning for her because that’s where her son and grandson live.

“I could stay with my kids, get to the showroom and the dinners without having to stay in the hotel,” she said. “But I love staying in the hotel with all the girls and all the people that come from everywhere. We’re like a bunch of old friends that we haven’t seen from one year to the other, and it’s fantastic.”

Those who spoke with WPR said their favorite part of the convention each year is reuniting with their friends. 

“We stay in touch online, and of course through Zoom and we have lots of online meetings and stuff,” said Brown, the Indiana native who lives in France. “But it’s never quite the same as really seeing your friends and having a chance to sit down and visit the bar here at the hotel and really just relax and catch up — that’s the best thing for me.”