World Capital of Pearl Buttons
I came across this site the other day as I was researching some button cards to post in my Etsy shop.
It was so interesting, I immediately thought of sharing my find with the Button Floozies!
It bills itself as the Home of the Pearl Button Museum. How intriguing! It is located in Muscatine, Iowa, of all places--population approximately 21,000. When I looked up the town (I'm big on research, can you tell?), I found out, via Wikipedia, that it is the only city in the U.S. with that name.
Here's another interesting fact: It turns out that the shell buttons were produced so prodigiously there because of the Mississippi River mussels. They were thick and hearty and could withstand the machine cutting.
The buttons were produced there from 1905 to around the early 1960s. Click the above link and you can find out why they eventually ceased production.
Here is the Pearl Button Queen of 1946!
Comments
I have been there researching pearl button manufacturing. A small, but wonderful museum.
The town of Muscatine today is a far cry from its' historical days... probably a good thing as back then it was said to be filthy and foul smelling.
It is now a quaint, small town with a history of American industry.
My maternal grandmother as a young child lived near the river in a tent when her family harvesting shells sent to Muscatine.
Thanks for sparking these memories.