The Mother-of-pearl which is cut into buttons is of various kinds, and some of great value. The white-edged Maccassar shells are fished almost entirely from the seas round Maccassar, in the East Indies. these shells, the "mothers'' of the orient pearls so coveted by beauty, are the finest in size and the purest in grain of any the world. Their. value in this town varies from £140 to £160 per ton. The yellow-edged Manilla shells are similar in size and character, but have a yellow tinge on their border, which diminishes their. value, and, moreover, they are more brittle in turning. They are used chiefly in the Sheffield trade for knife handles ; their value is from £100 to £120 per ton .

The Bombay and Alexandria shells, smaller in size and a less delicate in tint and clearness, are found inthe Black shell is from the Archipelago of the Pacific ocean, this is a beautiful coloured shell and polishes to a very dark shade, but giving out all the colours of the rainbow with exquisite blends.

The least valued pearl shells are the Panama variety been of a size akin to oyster's,these only allow a small percentage the shell to be used commercially this was the main reason for there low tonnage price.

Most of the button trade was carried out in small family run concerns , which was a cottage industry in the premises were they lived. The outlay required to carry out these tasks was a small nominal expense, labour was the main criteria many hands working for small wages.

There were no idle hands every one had a job to perform in dirty squalid conditions, from sorting the shells, then the experienced man of the house would work out the best cuts from the shells, for the blanks, these would be collected for the driller to put the holes in the blanks, next the polishing and sorting in to sizes and quality ready for the carders to sew the finished buttons on to the cardboard ready for the sale. usually this would be the owner of a large button making business.

Mr John Bitthel manufacturer of pearl buttons a family concern that had been going on for decades. They lived at No 15 Parliament street' he had a small factory in the yard of court five, which consisted of two buildings for making of pearl buttons. This had been a mystery to us for years. We had moved in to 1/15 Parliament Street during the Second World War. At this time the only remains of this pearl making trade was one lean to building and the remains of the main building, this was mainly now at ground level with numerous boxes shells and pearl button blanks. Which we used to dig up for friends and the girls from Burlington street school.

I came across this information about the Bitthel family during my family history research when looking up the 1901 census and then covering the 1881 and 1851 censuses they had been in the pearl button trade over this time span more research is required if I want any more information. been in the pearl button trade over this time span more research is required if I want any more information.

So after all these years we now know the reason for our treasure trove of pearl shells and buttons in our old back yard of 1/15 Parliament Street Aston. told

 

I am June Ivy Houghton nee Chapman worked at Clewleys in Vyse street in the centre of the jewellery quarter is there any body out there who worked with me use contact to get in touch.