This photograph shows John Frederick Boepple working in his pearl button shop around 1891. Boepple, a German immigrant button maker, launched the pearl button industry in Muscatine in 1891, when he opened a small button shop. The button and clamming industries started small but quickly overwhelmed the town. Clamming became the Mississippi River's gold rush while large automated factories and shell-cutting shops employed nearly half the local workforce. By 1905, Muscatine made 37 percent of the world's buttons and earned the title of "Pearl Button Capital of the World." Boepple was ousted from his factory by his business partners around 1910. He then began buying shells for other companies. He also studied mussels for the Fairport Biological Station, founded by the U.S. Congress in 1908. In late 1911, Boepple stepped on a shell while working in an Indiana river and passed away the following year. Content can be used with the following standards: 2nd grade SS 2.24 Natural Resources, SS-W.H. 9-12.26 Iowans Influence World History and 4th grade SS 4.25 Technological Changes in a lesson on how the natural resources of Iowa led to businesses and new industries. For any use other than instructional resources, please check with the organization that owns this item regarding copyright restrictions.
2018.010.003 [Factory]
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Ownership of this resource is held by the Muscatine Art Center and has been provided here for educational purposes only, specifically for use in the Iowa Museum Association's "Teaching Iowa History" project. It may not be downloaded, reproduced or distributed in any format without written permission from the Rights Holder. For information on U.S. and International copyright laws, consult an attorney.