Local Industry - Shell Buttons

Our first Local Industry for Southern Illinois!

timing:

Beginning in 1891, mussels were harvested to manufacture shell buttons for clothing. (source)

The last independent buttonworks in the U.S., the Wilbur E. Boyd Factory at Meredosia on the Illinois River, closed in 1948. (source)

resource list:

Buttons from Mussel Shells Along the Mississippi
cheerfulthriftydoor.blogspot.com - overview


Indiana’s Pearl and Button Boom
Indiana Historical Bureau - teacher background information


History of the Pearl Button Business in Meredosia, Illinois
written by Mr. Howard Edlen, Meredosia - personal narrative


Commercial Mussel Harvest - Illinois State Museum
more detailed information on button manufacture

from "Harvesting the River"

Origin of the Pearl Button Industry

Growth of the Button Industry

Mussel Fishing

'Cooking Out' the Shells

Cutting and Finishing Button Blanks

Demise of the Button Industry


Mussels of Illinois poster - FREE
Illinois Department of Natural Resources

order the poster here!

a lovely quote from Minn of the Mississippi by Holling Clancy Holling

"Minn walked sometimes on a clay-sandy bottom paved with punched-out, lace-holed shells...." (p.34)

artifacts:

buttons made of natural materials (shell, wood, horn)

and an example of buttons sewn on a card

follow ups:

it would be fun to

Play the Button Game!

Sew a Button Tree!

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