Lady Washington Pearl Buttons - A History

For more than two decades Grandmother's Buttons jewelry has used metal buttons of the late 19th and early 20th centuries as its focal point.  But last spring we added another type of button to our design mix:  the lustrous and sturdy pearl buttons created from Mississippi River mussel shells in the middle of the 20th century. The grandson of the founder of the American Pearl Button Company of Washington, Iowa contacted us about buying the remaining stock of buttons: hundreds of pounds of beautiful mother-of-pearl buttons made between 1908 and 1964.  As is so often the case when presented with a never-to-be-found-again cache of antique or vintage buttons, we took the leap and bought the stock sight unseen. Then buttons arrived: crumbling brown cardboard stock boxes and old grain sacks overflowing with perfectly carved and polished white pearl buttons.  It didn't take long to get the design juices flowing.

[caption id="attachment_985" align="aligncenter" width="512" caption="Cartoons from the 1950s booklet, “The Romance of Pearls and Their Manufacture into ‘Lady Washington’ Pearl Buttons”"][/caption]

Along with the buttons came old sample cards, brochures and a booklet titled "The Romance of Pearl Buttons."  We soon realized the amazing amount of work that had gone into producing these buttons. Harvesting the clam or mussel shells from the banks of the Mississippi River, boiling and cleaning the shells, cutting round blanks, tumbling, carving, drilling and polishing the buttons, and finally sewing them onto Lady Washington Pearl cards.  A far cry from the few seconds it takes to mold a plastic button today!

[caption id="attachment_990" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Women in the button factory circa 1920. 45 women worked at drilling, carving, sorting and carding the buttons at that time, while about 80 men did the cutting, washing, polishing and shipping./ A huge pile of discarded mussel shells after the button blanks have been drilled out of them."][/caption]

As Grandmother's Buttons continues to design for our new catalog in June we're drawing inspiration from the beauty and history of these pearl buttons. From the simple to intricate, pearly white to bright splashes of color, these buttons will create a piece of jewelry to fit everyone's style. Looking for a Lady Washington pearl button now? Check out our collection of charms with hand printed images on the solid pearl buttons.

[caption id="attachment_987" align="aligncenter" width="384" caption="A sample card, button measure, and various carded Lady Washington pearls."][/caption]