Santander, February 19th-22nd 2008 - Aranzadi

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CHERYL CLAASSEN
recover rapidly. Naiads reproduce by spewing glocidia
(larvae) into the water current and are immediately
carried downstream from the spawning
parent. These glocidia for most species of naiads
then attach themselves to the gills of fish where they
pass through a parasitic stage before detaching
and settling to the bottom as a shelled creature.
Therefore, the propagation of molluscs is most
dependent on the host fish population. If runoff is too
little to allow fish to swim through an area, shellfish
will not be able to settle there in appreciable numbers.
If the fish population is exterpated in a section
of river or in an entire river, new shellfish will not be
able to settle there. If the river bottom or water conditions
change drastically, shellfish will not be able
to live there. Otherwise, given fish and sexually
mature shellfish somewhere in a stream, new shellfish
will establish in old and new beds the following
season. Population recovery is very fast.
4.3. The Button Production Process
Following the harvest, the shells had to be
opened and meats removed. This process, involving
cooking the shells, was conducted at the
riverside. Next the shells were either cut in the
same location, or shipped by barge to a cutting
works shop on the same or a different river. Button
blanks were cut to reduce the shell weight before
shipping. In many cases, however, the piles of
cooked shells were shipped by rail to be cut at a
factory in Muscatine, Iowa, the home of this
industry. When the shells arrived at the factory
they were soaked in barrels for several weeks and
then cut with dies of different diameters by men.
This process produced button blanks, failed
blanks and wasted shell (Fig. 4). Wasted shell
constituted a significant inefficiency in the industry.
Blanks were then transported to a finishing factory
or section of a factory where they were polished,
pierced, and carded, mostly by women. Losses
during the finishing process were also fairly high
as the shells would break or exfoliate.
Shell buttons were produced in different sizes
for use on men’s pants and overcoats, women’s
dresses and men’s shirts, long underwear, and
women’s shoes. Since 1940 a weak demand for
Figure 4. Button production waste and button blanks (Photo by author).
MUNIBE Suplemento - Gehigarria 31, 2010
S.C. Aranzadi. Z.E. Donostia/San Sebastián