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What’s the story about pearl buttons?

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By Alma Gaul | Friday, July 18, 2008 1:30 PM CDT | () comments

If you visit Muscatine for next weekend’s garden walk (or any other occasion), I recommend a stop in the Muscatine History & Industry Museum and its pearl button exhibit.

Here, you’ll learn the story of how buttons stamped from the pearly shells of mussels harvested from the Mississippi River made Muscatine the button capital of the world — how in 1905, the city produced 1.5 billion buttons, or about 37 percent of all the buttons made worldwide, employing about half the local work force.

You’ll also learn how, in about 75 years, the industry collapsed, done in by foreign competition, changing fashion (think zippers), the limited availability of shells (the river bottom was harvested out) and the refinement of plastic as a substitute product.

The displays are an interesting mix of written text, photos, videos, and actual machinery and tools used in the industry.

My favorites are the big buckets of pearl buttons that you can run your hands through, feeling the difference between the cool, heavy, slightly powdery buttons made from shells and the slick, lightweight nothing-to-them buttons made from plastic.

The industry began in 1891 when immigrant John F. Boepple determined that the river’s thick mussel shells would make great buttons. People with no particular training or capital could go to the river, harvest mussels and make a living at it.

There’s a replica of a tent such as those that families would pitch on a riverbank during the summers, collecting mussels for weeks at a time, and a replica of a boat they would use, piled high with glossy, wet-looking shells.

You’ll also see a large map marking the location of some 153 (153!) shops/factories in Muscatine that were involved in the industry and read about a time in 1911 when workers organized a union and went on strike, leading to violence in which a police officer was killed.

In 1967, the Ronda button company became the last business to cut a pearl button; all others had converted to plastic by then.

Three button companies remain in Muscatine today, along with the memories of many more.

The museum at 117 W. 2nd St. (between Iowa Avenue and Chestnut Street) is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Admission is a recommended donation of $4 for adults and $2 for students.

For more information, call (563) 263-1052.

Alma Gaul can be contacted at (563) 383-2324 or agaul@qctimes.com.