One of several satsuma buttons collected by Ann W. Rudolph
The Ann Rudolph Button Collection, with over 25,000 artifacts, is a comprehensive holding of buttons and button-related materials. It includes representative examples of almost every type of collectible button, many of which are unique, rare and seldom available to scholars and collectors. Examples of everyday functional and utilitarian buttons are also included.
Housed within the Historic Costume & Textiles Collection, the buttons are organized, identified, and catalogued according to standards of the National Button Society. Button die stamps, cleaning boards, button hooks, and other button-related artifacts add to the depth of this unique collection.
Extensive research sources including books, catalogs, and journals related to button history, button manufacture, button collecting, and the role of buttons in fashion and dress exist within the OSU Library system and can be accessed via the library catalog, OSCAR. A further enhancement, OSU Libraries is the designated repository for the archives of the National Button Society.