Help to identify buttons

[Tony B]

Hello all,
I'm not familiar with Canadian insignia. So any help would be appreciated.
1. Button with beaver. Is it ww1 and who wore them?
2. Button without beaver. Is it ww2 and who wore them?
3. Railways Button. Does it have a military association and is it possible to date?

Thanks,
Tony

[Roy]

Hi Tony,

The third button is a general staff button (Canadian National Railways) and dates from 1920 - 1952.

Hope that helps.

Cheers, Roy.

[Cribyn]

Hello Tony

Canadian buttons are not really my area but I do not think buttons 1 and 2 are military. I have one each of these buttons and although I am going from memory at the moment, I do not think they appear in Eric Smylie's book on 'Buttons of the Canadian Militia'.

I also have a recollection that these two buttons have been mentioned on the Forum before and again were not considered to be military.

Hopefully a Canadian expert will be along to put us all out of our misery!

Regards
Roger

[servicepub]

The first two buttons were worn by volunteer para-military groups during the war. These civilian groups had no entitlement to the Army's General Service buttons so used these. There are at least three major types and these are shown in my book on Coloured Field Service Caps.

[Tony B]

Originally Posted by servicepub

The first two buttons were worn by volunteer para-military groups during the war. These civilian groups had no entitlement to the Army's General Service buttons so used these. There are at least three major
types and these are shown in my book on Coloured Field Service Caps.

Thanks for your information. After reading your post I came across this group of 7 buttons on eBay credited to... 'Canadian Armed Forces Infantry Corps WW2 brass uniform buttons'.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-CANADIAN-A...EAAMXQlgtS05l1

Sorry if I seem a bit dumb but how do these relate (or not) to the second button in my post?
Tony

[btns]

Servicepub is right, but I think the buttons had been around long before WWII.

The e-bay seller is just another hawker making up a good story and hoping to sell his goods.

As far as I know Gaunt's Montreal office was sold to Wm. Scully in the 1930s.

[Cribyn]

Originally Posted by btns

Servicepub is right, but I think the buttons had been around long before WWII.

The e-bay seller is just another hawker making up a good story and hoping to sell his goods.

As far as I know Gaunt's Montreal office was sold to Wm. Scully in the 1930s.

Yes, I'm afraid btns is right, many ebay sellers simply make up stories to make their items seem more attractive or they get their information from some very dubious websites!

As regards the Gaunt office in Montreal, I have quite a few Queen's crown Canadian forces buttons with a 'J R Gaunt & Son Ltd Montreal Made in England' backmark. If Gaunt did indeed sell their Montreal office in the 1930s they continued to use 'Montreal' on backmarks for some years after which is not impossible if they had a large stock of them!

Roger

[btns]

Roger,

I was incorrect. In the 1930s the privately owned Canadian Gaunt office was sold by its owner (Mr. Gaunt) to J.R. Gaunt & Son Ltd. The office itself was sold to Wm. Scully in 1987.
Here are the announcements:

https://www.williamscully.ca/gallery..._1023.jpg.html

https://www.williamscully.ca/documen...s_jr_gaunt.pdf

[Cribyn]

Hello btns

Many thanks for posting those two links. There is some interesting information there, especially in the first one.

Roger

[servicepub]

Originally Posted by Tony B

Thanks for your information. After reading your post I came across this group of 7 buttons on eBay credited to... 'Canadian Armed Forces Infantry Corps WW2 brass uniform buttons'.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-CANADIAN-A...EAAMXQlgtS05l1

Sorry if I seem a bit dumb but how do these relate (or not) to the second button in my post?
Tony

Never, ever, trust an e-bay description. Collectors should buy the artefact and not the story.

[Tony B]

Originally Posted by servicepub

Never, ever, trust an e-bay description. Collectors should buy the artefact and not the story.

Thanks for all your help in clarifying.
Tony