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WINTER 2017
HOMESCHOOL IOWA 9
O
ur family recently visited the
Muscatine History and Industry
Center for a homeschool field
trip. Nestled inside there is all kinds of
history about The Pearl Button Capital
of the World, and more. We were given
a tour by the museum’s assistant direc-
tor, Terry Eagle, and were told about the
interesting history of pearl button facto-
ries all around the country.
It started with John Frederick Boep-
ple, who first made pearl buttons in Ger-
many from ocean mussels. Ocean mus-
sels are not easy to find, and business
was not doing well. John had a friend in
America that sent a mussel over to him
with a note telling him how the rivers
were choked with them. John decided
to go to America. He chose the Musca-
tine area because of the bend in the riv-
er, which would be filled with the most
mussels. When he got there, he found
out that the rivers were indeed choked
with thousands of mussels! That is where
it all began.
Pearl buttons were a sign of wealth, so
there was a lot of demand for them, and
the button business started booming.
John hired people to harvest shells, crack
themopen, and then give the shells to him.
People would do that all over the Quad
City and Mississippi River area and have
the shells imported to Muscatine. The pearl
button industry was Iowa’s gold rush!
John Frederick Boepple cut the blanks
for the buttons by hand. The blanks then
had holes put in them so that you could
sew them onto clothing. Since business
was booming, button makers invented
better machines to make the pearl but-
tons. The factories started popping up all
over Iowa. Boepple, being stubborn in his
ways, did not want to use new technology
not made by him; therefore, he refused to
make them any way but the original way
he had come up with. Boepple said “I will
never use machines to cut my shells. I will only do it my way”.
The mussels were collected with a crowfoot bar or people
waded in the river and picked them up by hand. Boepple was
clamming the river when he stepped on a sharpmussel. Boepple
did not think his injury was serious so he continued to work in
the river and contracted an infection. By
the time he went to the hospital it was
too late and they could not save him. Bo-
epple died in January of 1912 because
of what he discovered, and because he
couldn’t stop doing what he was passion-
ate about.
With the invention of the washing
machine, pearl buttons became less
and less popular. The washing machines
were ruining the pearl buttons with all
the chemicals in the soap. Since the pearl
buttons were not washable, the plastic
button became popular. Additionally,
mussels were getting scarce because of
over-harvesting, making pearl buttons
more expensive. Of course, the pearl
buttons are better looking. Like Terry
Eagle said during our tour, “Pearl buttons
are jewels and plastic buttons are tools.”
The button factory in Muscatine
lasted from 1890-1967. The button fac-
tory business lasted for about a hundred
years. Soon people had perfected the
button making machines. And mostly
women worked on the machines be-
cause it was a tedious job. And back then
men only did the heavy lifting. At the
peak of the pearl button boom about
half of the local population worked in
button factories.
We highly recommend visiting the
Pearl Button Museum because of the
rich history inside this small building.
Don’t let its size fool you! The museum
is always finding things to add. Terry Ea-
gle told us all about how the pearl but-
ton history includes science, math, and
history as well. Come and learn about
Muscatine’s wonderful history and learn
about the beautiful pearl buttons!
Thank you, Terry Eagle, for giving us a
tour and showing us your magnificent
pearl buttons!
Abby and Emma Valiente reside in Columbus Junction,
Iowa with their family and volunteered with the Chil-
dren’s Program at the 2017 Homeschool Iowa Conference.
Their mom, Davina, runs a local homeschool support
group for Columbus Junction area moms to connect and
plan field trips together.
Iowa’s Gold Rush
BY ABBY AND EMMA VALIENTE, STUDENT CONTRIBUTORS