✅ SOLVED Button ID help

tim185 · Oct 3, 2014

Found this last weekend at a park that used to be old home sites.
I can't seem to place the design thinking I've seen this before after searching the web. The back is toasted as you can see. I don't think it's military or that old but could be wrong. I'm thinking music related for some reason.
I thank you guys in advance.
Tim from Missouri.

SkaBa · Oct 3, 2014

Band uniform button.

TheCannonballGuy · Oct 3, 2014

SkaBa is correct, it is a Musical Band uniform button. That exact version is for sale today at the Waterbury Button Company website's sales-catalog. My old 1960s high school Band uniform (which is still in my attic) has the exact same emblem on it.

Note that the musical instrument shown on it, called a Lyre, has four strings. A version of it which has three strings dates back as far as the late-1800s... based on the button in the photo below, whose "J.H. Wilson / Phila." backmark means it was made sometime between 1873 and 1907.

Important note:
Despite doing a lot of research, I haven't seen any civil war era photos of a Military band musician with a Lyre button on his uniform. If anybody here knows of such a civil war era photo, please post it, or post a link to it.