The Button Museum in Santarcangelo di Romagna
Society, fashion and History told through a small, wonderful object: the button
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What is it and where is the Button Museum
It's a beautiful day in the Marecchia Valley, and you're well down your list of things to see in Santarcangelo di Romagna: you've already taken a nice walk through the center, admired Tonino Guerra's fortress and fountains, and sampled a few dishes with the very good water onion. There, it is that moment when fatigue begins to set in, but you are not yet ready to go back to the hotel to rest. You need something surprising but close, something small but special, and that's what I wanted to talk to you about: come on, let's go to Via della Costa where the Button Museum is waiting for us.
Why it's special: small stories of ordinary greatness.
Chances are good that you have at least one button on you right now: on your shirt, on your jeans, maybe a sweater... So why dedicate a museum to such an ordinary object? Think about it for a moment: how long have buttons been used? We'll remain vague (you'll find out the right answer at the museum) and say, "centuries." And how many kinds are there? I know you're thinking of Grandma's butter cookie tin box full of buttons of a thousand kinds! That's it-more. Many more. And once upon a time, for nobles, they helped demonstrate their wealth and power, becoming authentic miniature works of art.
Not to be missed: the guided tour of the Button Museum.
When the object is simple, understanding its true value becomes strangely complicated. When that object is capable of telling History and sociopolitics, the picture becomes even more complicated. The Santarcangelo di Romagna Button Museum is small, and it shows small objects. You can visit it on your own admiring the many specimens on display, but you can also get help from a guide or, with luck, from the owner, so you don't miss the most interesting trivia about this object so simple and yet so important in our lives (Yes, important...has your pants button ever betrayed you? There, we get the picture)
A bit of history: from family store, to fascinating museum
A bazaar that had been closed for 20 years was purchased in 1920 by Mr. Gallavotti, who opened a haberdashery there. The store then passed to his son, who kept it active until 2002. Then began a period of collecting and cataloguing the buttons left in the store: some were from the late 1800s, several from the early 1900s, and so on, almost a century of life and fashion encapsulated in 8500 buttons that in 2008 constituted the first patrimony of the Santarcangelo di Romagna Button Museum. Over the years, between acquisitions and donations, the collection has grown to 15 thousand buttons from 63 nations scattered around the world. An incredible heritage!
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