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Pearl button industry thrives on Iowa rivers in 1897
In 1897 favorable tariffs under the Dingley Act boosted American button makers as riverside clammers supplied shells. Iowa towns from Muscatine to Davenport housed factories, with Muscatine named the pearl button capital. By 1900s plants spread to Cedar Rapids, Lansing, and Guttenberg before decline from plastics and imports.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Congress
Iowa
United States
the Gazette
John Frederick Boepple
Ida Grove
Muscatine
Davenport
Lansing
Iowa City
Dubuque
Cedar Rapids
Vinton
Clinton
Zearing
Wapello
Sabula
DeWitt
Burlington
Fort Madison
Columbus Junction
Waterloo
Marion
Cams
Fred
Duncan Stuart
Br Amile and
Cammers
Cedar River
J.H. Wellers
Christian Magnus
North Third Street
South First Street
Jeremiah Turner
Turner Button Factory
Turner
Leo Hufschmidt
Lansing Button Works
John Brophy
Hufschmidt
Lansing Co. Inc
B. Blumenthal Co
Carlstad
N.J
Monticello
Automatic Button Co
Empire Buttonworks
Guttenberg
Mississippi River
Chris Frommelt
Empire City Pearl Button Works
New York