Muscatine Pearl Slugs at Pearl Button Museum

by Kari
(Muscatine, Iowa, USA)

Anyone crazy about pearls will love seeing these Mississippi River pearl slugs. They are on display at our local museum which is just two blocks away from the grand old river itself.

These slugs were found in abundance during the pearl button days here in Muscatine.

Not long ago, I was told by an older gentleman that as a youngster he watched clammers throwing certain freshly gathered mussels into the back of the boat. He asked why. Because, they told him, they were the ones with pearls.

And sure enough, those clammers had learned to spot signs on the outer shells that indicated pearls on the inside. They were right almost every time.

I love hearing first-hand stories like that.

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