Tuesday, June 24, 2014

WINDSOR BUTTON SHOP, BOSTON



“Windsor Button Shop” is the name on the little white sack. Inside are six little white buttons with green elephants on them. The little sack has been around for years, and clearly it was mine since the shop locations were in the Boston area, but the reason for the purchase was lost to memory. And then those memories came flooding back . . .





It was 1973 and my special friend Chris (residing in Idaho with her husband) was expecting her first baby. I was working in the Boston area at the time. I made this darling (if I do say so myself) little boy sweater set in an odd shade of green. (It was the ‘70s, remember.) Fortunately her baby was a boy. (I finished up the girl sweater the next year for her next baby, a girl. It worked out so great!)

But I digress. Buttons for the little boy sweater were just the excuse I needed to visit the Windsor Button Shop at the Braintree mall. I selected cute little buttons from one of the many button drawers, and the clerk put them in that little white sack. Alas! When I showed the buttons to the sweater, the green of the elephants was too yellow. At the time I was very disappointed. I think I finally just went with plain white baby buttons.

And now it’s today, 40 years later, and I still have those “elephant” buttons in the little white sack, and they still feel special, and they still aren't right for my current project.

As I sat and looked at the sack and the buttons, I wondered about the Windsor Button Shop. Were they still in business? So, I googled “Windsor Button Shop,” and to my surprise, the downtown Boston store, the original shop and the last one remaining, closed just last year – February 2013. (You can read the Boston Globe story about the Windsor Button Shop here.)

Well, I feel a little sad about that closure even though my experience with the shop was brief – and long ago – and far away. I was not a frequent visitor there, but I totally agree with those shoppers who miss the hominess and service of that little shop. KW




6 comments:

Chris said...

It was a darling sweater set!! I believe I still have it tucked away, and possibly some pictures of Matt wearing it. I'll have to do some checking!

Kathy said...

And somehow I was not successful in using that pattern again. I must have misread it.

Chris said...

Rats! I only picture of it I seem to have has Ann wearing it! And it's not a close-up, so the sweater design doesn't show. I also have one of her wearing the pink one, but it too is indistinct. I'm sure I have both sweaters put away but I'll have to get Dan to help me find the box...

Kathy said...

Oh -- I hope you don't spend a lot of effort on that search for my sake. There's no reason to search for it except nostalgia.

I think it takes a long time to knit / crochet baby items. I sorta gave it up, and one of the things that brought me to that decision was seeing all the used -- and unused -- baby afghans in thrift shops.

When my grandson was born 13 years ago, his parents requested a sweatshirt, so I went to Walmart and bought a tiny zippered sweatshirt for him. His mom put him in it immediately. It was so practical.

Chris said...

Rest assured that both those sweaters were used and used often. And those afghans you made Cam and Keat are still used! I saw them both the other day.

Hallie said...

Such cute buttons! Now they're historical items--their value surely increased 10 fold with the closing of that shop.