We are excitedly readying ourselves for the 12th Annual Civil War Reenactment at Prado Regional Park, sponsored by the SCCWA. This wonderful event kicks off the season for our group every year and really is a lot of fun! This is a Boy Scout and Girl Scout event, so please be sure to click through to SCCWA for Scout information, registration forms and more.
This year, for Girl Scouts who come and visit us in Mrs. Brewer’s Parlour, we will have a special swap for girls to create. It is based on a lost 19th century sentimental craft called a Victorian Charm String. The history tells us that during the 1860s, girls began trading and collecting unique buttons and stringing them together. Each button should be different, and carry some special meaning. In some traditions, a girl would collect 999 buttons, and when she added the 1000th one, she would meet her Prince Charming. In other traditions, they were a bit of a competition between girls, trying to out-do one another in finding the most brilliant, most unique and most beautiful buttons.
These unique and wonderful strings of buttons are rare these days, but museums and private collections reveal amazing collections of wonderful buttons spanning 100 years in some cases. Some have buttons representing memories, much like a charm bracelet, others carry the buttons from wedding dresses, ball gowns, and other important milestones. For the Girl Scout swap, we will be offering a mini charm string for girls to wear, trade, and maybe even be inspired. You could easily adapt this for modern girls who want to collect fun buttons and trade them with their friends. We hope we will see you there!
Further reading on charm strings
Victorian Charm Strings reprinted from Bead and Button, 1995, via AboutDecorativeStyle.com
Charm Strings by Jay Bailey, via the Oklahoma Historical Society
Victorian Charm Strings via Wellington County Museum, Ontairo Canada – with great photos and descriptions
Further information on Prado Park 12th Annual Civil War Event
Mrs Brewer's Parlour 
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