Today was a down day; at least from traveling. However, keeping a boat continuously moving means there are lots of jobs to be done. We got many of them scratched off the list this morning.
Button Blanks Drilled from the Mussel Shell
Several months ago in Tennessee we learned that at the turn of the twentieth century there was a huge demand for freshwater mussel shells. Today we learned the rest of the story: it was Muscatine, Iowa that was driving the demand. Muscatine had learned how to make pearl buttons from the shells. By the mid 1910's they were making 1.5B buttons per year. That takes a lot of shells!
Still in the Municipal Marina in Muscatine, Iowa. When we went into City Hall to pay our slip rent we were told it's free for transient boats. That's mighty neighborly! No miles today and the trip total is 3,839 miles. DBH
