The Button Hook: One Wire, Bent and Twisted

"My invention relates to a button-hook or buttoner formed out of a single wire, the wire being bent to the proper shape of the loop or hook, and then duplicated and twisted to form the shank. The twist alone may constitute the handle, in which case it is found to be sufficiently strong for the purpose; or the twisted shank may be inserted in a wooden, bone, or other handle." "An important advantage derived from the twisting of the wire is that of the preventing of the spread of the loop at the bottom or base thereof when strain is applied to the device in the act of using it. Where the wire is simply duplicated or bent over upon itself, the spreading of the loop at the point of union with the shank is liable to occur, and the symmetry and efficiency of the article are thereby impaired. This defect is completely obviated by twisting the wire, which closes the base of the loop and prevents the disengagement of the wire."

Cut two 30 cm lengths of steel wire. Bend each around round-nose pliers into a narrow loop at its middle, then fold the two legs together. Leave the first as a plain doubled wire. Clamp the loop of the second in a vise and twist the legs together with pliers, tight and even, to make a shank. Hang the same weight from the tip of each loop with the shank held level, and measure the droop. Pull each loop sideways and see which spreads at its base. Use the better one to fasten a button through a tight leather buttonhole. Wear eye protection: cut wire ends spring.

**Joseph A. Smith** of Deep River, Connecticut, filed US 208,858 on 29 March 1878; it is dated 8 October 1878. He notes "the twisting is accomplished by machinery, and is perfectly regular." **Honest limits.** The patent gives no wire size. The wire diameter, length and load in the notebook are examples, and the bonded pair is an upper bound for a twist.