Do you know how to tell a pearl button from a plastic one?

One of the joys of travel by car is that I can visit small towns and obscure places. On a recent trip I went, among other places, to Muscatine, Iowa, self-proclaimed Pearl Button Capital of the World. The Pearl Button Museum was fascinating, much to my surprise. Terry Eagle, the museum curator, gives a very informative and interesting tour of the museum.

Pearl buttons enjoyed their peak in 1916 but held onto their allure until the 1960s when the last of the pearl button factories closed in Muscatine. It all started in 1891 with a German immigrant named John Boepple. Tariffs drove him out of business in Germany, where he used ocean mollusks for his buttons. Buttons advertised the social standing of an individual. Wooden buttons indicated a poor person. Pearl buttons showed wealth and privilege. Pearl buttons were used as decoration as well as functional closings for shirts and dresses.

Searching for fresh water mussels, Boepple found the mother-lode, as it were, in the Mississippi River. Seventy-five species of freshwater mussels are native to the Midwest, and when Boepple discovered them, the Mississippi River was choked with mussels. He employed whole families, called “clammers” to harvest this vast supply of raw material for his button factory. The clamming industry averaged 40,000 to 60,000 TONS of shell annually. Mussels were brought into Muscatine by the train car-load. My first question, of course, was how long did it take them to decimate the mussel population? Not long, as it turned out.

Within a decade of the industry’s start, mussel beds around Muscatine were depleted, and clammers ventured into other rivers and areas, eventually covering 19 states. Around 300 different species of mussels are native to America. Today, 10% of those are extinct, and another 210 species are at risk of disappearing. The button industry used a dozen species, but pollution, silting, and dredging destroyed the mussel habitat as well. As with other early American industries, the resources being exploited did not outlast the demand.

Did you know the inside shell of the mollusk, whether it be a mussel, clam, or oyster is known as mother-of-pearl, and the same material that is used to create pearls? Often the mussels being brought to the plant contained a pearl inside, as well as the valuable mother-of-pearl shell. The pearl button industry lasted approximately seventy-five years; every cutter (those who cut the pearl discs from the shell) used up to 100 pounds of shells a day, making around 3,600 blanks. From those blanks, 21,600 buttons were turned out every day. The demise of the industry came about due to foreign competition, changing fashion, and more importantly, the rise of plastic buttons in the 1920s.

Go to www.muscatinehistory.org for more information on this subject.

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Muscatine is also famous for its muskmelons. While muskmelon is a relative of the cantaloupe, to my mind there is no comparison. Muskmelon is so much more tasty and juicy, and in the world of muskmelons, there is nothing to compare with those grown in Muscatine, Iowa. I had the good fortune to go to Mairet’s Farm market and taste some of Shane Mairet’s homegrown fruits. I am a sucker for beautiful home grown produce anytime, but the urge to buy up bushels of melons was almost overwhelming. I settled for two of the huge melons that could be eaten in a day or two – with lots of help.

You can find information about Mairet Farm at www.mairetsgardencenter.org .

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I can’t leave this tour of southeastern Iowa without mentioning The Candy Kitchen, a stone’s throw from Muscatine, in Wilton, Iowa. The Candy Kitchen is a nostalgic delight. The old fashioned soda counter with its red covered stools are originals from the restoration in 1922. The soda counter offers everything from Coke (made from syrup and soda water) to pineapple, lemon, chocolate, and specialties such as Pink Lady (cherry, strawberry and vanilla), and their bestselling Dipsy Doodle (cherry, lemon, lime, orange, pineapple, and strawberry) sodas, all mixed in front of you. Homemade ice cream and phosphates can be found on the menu as well.

The original Candy Kitchen opened in 1867 and is considered the oldest continuous business of its type in the United States.

Check out the Candy Kitchen at www.wiltoncandykitchen.com or

If you’re ever in Muscatine, stop by these historic places, and tell ’em Robyn sent you.

Thought I forgot, didn’t you? To tell a real pearl button, or pearl itself, press it lightly to your face. If it’s real, it will feel cold on your skin. It retains the coolness of the water from whence it came — or so the story goes.

Robyn Near is a Ripley resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com