Warehouse Full of Buttons in Muscatine, Iowa

At one point, Muscatine was considered one of the biggest button capitols of the world, famous for its beautiful pearl buttons.

But while the town may no longer be manufacturing buttons, the product still has its place in Muscatine as something crafters and button-enthusiasts look for.

In April 2020, Blue Grass resident Seanteelle Smith explored one of Muscatine’s old button factories, located at 1009 E 6th St., after her boss bought the building. The warehouse building, originally owned by Weber & Sons and built in 1886, closed years ago. Inside, however, was far from empty.

“I worked for Bruce Construction as the HR manager and I kind of got hired on to also organize and sell what was in that warehouse,” Smith said.

According to Smith, the day her boss bought the warehouse was the day she and her co-workers acquired the largest inventory of buttons they had ever seen. There are thousands of button-filled boxes still in the warehouse and each box holds a different type, color and style of button.

Read entire article here: https://muscatinejournal.com/muscatine/local-woman-sells-pearl-antique-buttons-out-of-previously-closed-warehouse/article_cc2ebd38-5d97-5841-9b2c-a2b22ff1b285.html