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Until about 1800, Birmingham manufacturers made products using simple hand tools and hand-powered machines. In 1794, Ralph Heaton patented this machine for making button shanks - small pieces of metal used to attach fashionable metal gilt buttons onto clothes. Heaton used steam to power his machine, producing more shanks cheaply and quickly.

Heaton’s machine was one of the first machines designed to make just one product. Before this, machines could make lots pf different products. Over time, machines for making things have got more and more specialised.

Buttons were a very important product at the time Heaton designed his machine. They have always developed as fashions have changed. Buttons have been made from every natural and manmade material - such as bone, shell, mother-of-pearl, glass, wood, precious metals and jewels.

The late 18th century was a golden age for Birmingham button makers. Buttons had numerous elaborate designs, which could be engraved, stamped, enamelled, or painted. Many feature detailed miniature paintings. Metal and gilt buttons also became fashionable.

In 1851, a visitor to Birmingham wrote that Heaton’s machine made nearly 750,000 button shanks per day. Some larger button manufacturers purchased a machine, but most bought their shanks from Heaton’s company. The machine could produce all the shanks they needed for a month in just one afternoon!

Category: Process , Product

Institute: Thinktank

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