Pearl buttons and Davenport, Iowa's past
Merle Vastine, of Davenport, holds a postcard showing the last location of the Davenport Pearl Button Co. at the southeast corner of 5th and Taylor streets, Davenport.
Those who have lived in the Quad-City region likely know that the making of pearl buttons was a big industry here at the turn of the 19th century. They also may know that Muscatine was the “world button capital” of this enterprise that used shells from freshwater mussels once found in abundance in the Mississippi River.
What is less generally known is that Davenport had button factories, too — at least five of them. The longest-running of these was the Davenport Pearl Button Co., incorporated in 1896 and operating until the 1940s.
The public can learn more about the Davenport button company and see buttons it made on Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023, during the annual Mississippi Valley Antique Bottle and Advertising Show and Sale, Davenport.
The event from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 1111 W. 35th St. will draw about 45 vendors from Iowa and Illinois, showing and selling Quad-Cities collectibles, advertising and brewery items, stoneware, antique bottles and fruit jars. Admission is $2 with children under 14 admitted free.
Source: https://qctimes.com/news/local/history/pearl-buttons-and-davenports-past/article_7f2f2026-3b76-11ee-908d-27088411e677.html
Pearl Button History
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