An 86-year-old man living in Buenos Aires keeps the craft of making buttons alive, a true artisanal passion for which he is daily recognized by neighbors and even tourists, who come to the bustling Flores neighborhood to see and admire his meticulous work. This is Eduardo Alonso, who considers himself an expert in the field and has been at the helm of the establishment "El rey de los botones" (King of the Buttons) on Av. Rivadavia 6283 for over 60 years. In a recent interview with Xinhua, the man explained that button-making is in his blood, as his father, Eugenio Alonso, arrived in Buenos Aires from Spain as a teenager and began working in a haberdashery supply house, later starting his own business. "It took time, but it was achieved, and shortly after it was a success," he recounted. The "King of the Buttons" explained that the pieces he made with his brother were featured in a Sunday magazine in Buenos Aires, and from then on, there was a furor for his products, of which they used to make between 300 and 400 daily. "My craft is that of a button maker. With the saw, we cut the square buttons, we had a polisher and with the polisher we ate the button by button with the stone and then we polished it with cloth," the man reviewed. Eduardo still preserves that first square button, about 5 centimeters, dark green, and treasures it among the thousands of small boxes that bring his shop to life. "The artisan button is very difficult to make, but the need for it still exists," he says. The shelves of the shop are filled with small elongated boxes full of buttons of different sizes, colors, shapes, and materials. There are also buttons in drawers, large and small, and the interviewee knows from memory where each one is located, based on a detailed classification. There are buttons made of wood, metal, glass, polyester, tortoiseshell, galalita, and mother-of-pearl, some of them brought from places like Germany, Italy, or the Czech Republic. Eduardo is in charge of the shop from Monday to Saturday, although sometimes he also shows up on Sundays to devise a new design. "With my brother we did it almost at night, because we were still in high school," he recalled. To give proper advice, Eduardo asks visitors to bring the garment for which they need the buttons. "If I have time, I make it on the spot and for me it is a satisfaction," affirmed the man. "For me, this is like a craft," emphasized Eduardo, who offered this agency precise details of the carving labor he performs for neighbors, tourists, dressmakers, and artists alike.
"When I manage to make a button that I like, for me it is a satisfaction," summarized the "king of the buttons".
