Button Factory Manifesto, made in the USA

Waterbury, Connecticut is the famous Brass City. A city where people still work in the factories of old. They work both day and night, getting dirty for their pay. This manifesto holds the poems and essays that are a portrait of these hard working men and women who produce the brass buttons and findings for your clothing. You, the reader, will also get to peek inside of the clothing industry which is based in the garment district of New York City. This is a story that can only be told by a salesman, who happens to be a fifteen year veteran of the fashion industry.

Now, if you close your eyes, and listen closely, you too will hear the machines still singing, and maybe you’ll notice the smell of machine oil hanging in the air. Waterbury was once the center of the brass industry during World War II, but now it is a shadow of its former self. Little by little, time has taken it away from us. Today we are left with the hollowed out old mill buildings which are standing empty awaiting a new life, or possibly a second chance. Only time will tell what the future of this Brass City is to be.