Vintage

Once, while on vacation to Russia, I met a Vivacious and Voluptuous Vamp from Vladivostok. As was her habit, she would sit at her Vanity, on which was placed a Vintage Vase with a Verdigris patina, holding a small number of very lovely Violets. Around her neck, draping over her shoulder, was a rather large and dangerous Viper with the most beautiful Viridescent eyes. As if this was not tantalizing enough, she would then pick up a finely Varnished Violin and begin to play and sing Ave Maria by Vladimir Vavilov...

As enticing as it would be to continue this story, perhaps turning it into a rhyme, I am certain it would veer off our PG path. So, I will regroup my thoughts, and find something more suitable for our VG (very good) group.

I love buttons, especially the Vintage kind. Being a collector with broad horizons, I have accumulated a large number of Vintage buttons. Why? Other than satisfying my fundamental collector urges, I buy them to use for crafting purposes.

Vintage buttons, as many of you know, were manufactured from a wide variety of materials...wood, bone, metal, Bakelite, shell, ceramic, glass and plastic. I have, in my collection, buttons made from each of these materials, although at present, I am most fascinated with the shell buttons.

As some of you may know, my wife, the HappyMrsC recently started making hummingbird feeders from recycled glass bottles. I suggested she use the Vintage buttons to decorate the bottles. And so she has. I have actually just completed my first feeder (photo below).

Last night, for some presently not remembered reason, I decided to Google and learn about Pearl Buttons (mother of pearl or shell buttons). What I found was a quite interesting piece of 19th and 20th century American history. It is a remarkable story of how a German immigrant, J.F. Boepple, turned a sleepy, Mississippi River town named Muscatine, into "The Pearl Button Capital of the World". Its prominence in the pearl button industry lasted for more than half a century, eventually giving way to foreign competition and newer, synthetic materials. I encourage you to check out the wonderful information found on the Muscatine History and Industry Center's Pearl Button Museum website that I have linked below. Needless to say, the HappyMrsC and I have decided that some day we will take a road trip to the former "Pearl Button Capital of the World", somewhere along the muddy banks of the Mighty Mississippi, in the great state of Iowa.

http://www.muscatinehistory.org/pearl_button_industry.html

Peace, and...

Blessings...

This is my installment for the letter "V" in our ongoing, weekly meme, Alphabe-Thursday. I would like to thank our teacher, Jenny Matlock, for providing this 'learning' opportunity. I encourage you to check out some of the work prepared by other students in the class.