The Watertown Manufacturing Company in Connecticut won the contract and introduced the beauty of melamine to the Navy. Not only are the new plates and bowls 80 percent lighter and take up 75 percent less shelf space than ceramic plates and bowls, they're virtually indestructible. By 1942, the Navy was using melamine on ships around the world, and as plastic prices plummeted, the military began looking for other uses. Traditional nuts, wood, and mother-of-pearl buttons simply won't work in modern warfare. In 1942, Emsig Manufacturing Corporation, also in Connecticut, introduced melamine shirt buttons, and melamine soon became a cheaper, easier-to-wash option that wouldn't break. Beginning with World War II, most of the buttons on American uniforms are made of melamine.
You can tell melamine buttons because they usually have a visible seam around the outer edge, excess plastic "glitter" in the buttonhole, or a release pin on the button mold. If you want to put everything on it, you can put it over an open flame, because the melamine button will never catch fire.