Grandma’s button jar

 

During long winter evenings Bill’s Grandma Williamson and Great-aunt Winnie spent time making what they called button jars. Clay would be smeared all over the outside of a pottery jug, then various bits and pieces pressed in — not just buttons, but all manner of tiny treasures. We kept one of the jars as a special memory.

There are lots of wee toys from Cracker Jack boxes and gum ball machines — I had my own collection of those when I was a kid. Every time I look at this jar, I find something new. Shells, pieces of jewelry, a boot-shaped twig, coins, a walnut, a tiny train car, an Alf Landon campaign button, a tiny pair of scissors, beads, a tiny teddy bear, belt buckles, broken china, a tiny clothespin — today I noticed an arrowhead!