Button Wednesday : Blauwe Knoop

It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


"Blauwe Knoop" is the title for this Wednesday. It is Dutch for "Blue Button" like this giant one (from stellaloella).



In Dutch it has also another meaning. In Dutch you can be of the "blauwe knoop"; in that case you do not drink alcohol, out of principle. In the second half of the nineteenth century exuberant alcohol consumption was considered as a large problem. Not by the state, because the turnovers from the excise levy on spirits formed an important source of income for the government. The fight against alcohol was put up by citizens who found that "enough was enough". Their slogan was: "Ah father! No longer". Their sign was a blue button on the coat. The fight against alcohol abuse was a component of the social question, as it was called then; the fight against bad housing and poverty. Because the alcoholics drank their hole income in a few minutes. A couple of drinks on Saturday afternoon was already dramatic for the house keeping funds. Here a funny short film about it's history.



And then in 2004, a new blue button appeared. It is the mark for justified clothing. In the regular cotton cultivation many detrimental pesticides are used. Working conditions and payments are frequently bad. This applies also to the processing industry and many sewing workshops. Because there are so many parties involved, Western companies frequently hesitate to reorientate to a more durable treatment. In 2004, Solidaridad MADE-BY started to help them with this. MADE-BY develops durable production chains from raw material to end product. So the blue button on a garment tells you that the company is trying to be more durable.



And that's all I know about blue buttons .....

(Photo by annapurna356)



Have you seen a lovely, beautiful, stunning, crazy button or button-related thingy, or did you make something with a button / buttons, or did you even make buttons yourself, blog about it on your blog on Wednesday, and give the link here in the comments so that everybody can enjoy it !!