Mortgage button
The "mortgage button" or "amity button" was a small ornamental inlay often featured on newel posts of a main staircase in the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in American and European homes.[citation needed] It was used to hide joinery.[1]
The name comes from the historical misconception that they represented a homeowner who had paid off their mortgage.[2] According to tradition, the homeowner would arrange to have a button made of ivory set onto the newel post when the house was paid off.[3] Another version is that a scrimshaw maker would engrave the date the loan was paid off onto a piece of ivory, which was inserted the newel.[4]
One popular myth was that the decorative cap was concealing a deed to the house, or a mortgage document, which had been rolled up and hidden inside the newel post.[1][2] According to writer Mary Miley Theobald, no such documents have ever been found, although house plans were found inside the newel post on one occasion.[2]
Others have suggested that the ivory button on the newel post was a symbol of cooperation or brotherly love.[5]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Kaye, Myrna (September 1999). "False Funny Factoids". Old House Interiors. Vol. 5, no. 3. pp. 28–32. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
- 1 2 3 Theobold, Mary Miley (2012). "Myth #53". Death by Petticoat: American History Myths Debunked. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing. pp. 104–105. ISBN 9781449432737.
- ↑ Van Buren, Maurie (1991). House Styles at a Glance. Historic Preservation Consulting. p. 37. ISBN 9788282828284.
- ↑ Orton, Kathy (June 14, 2018). "A home built while Lincoln was in the White House". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 19, 2025 – via EBSCOhost.
- ↑ Abbott, Shirley. Historic Charleston. Birmingham, Alabama: Oxmoor House. p. 59. ISBN 9780848707569.