Soaper-Barret (W. H. Soaper and W. T. Barret) Button factory opened in 1904 and turned fresh mussel shells from the Ohio River into button blanks.
The company disolved on 30 April 1911.
Tons of Mussel Shells Heretofore Regarded as Worthless Are Utilized by the Concern.
A new industry has been added to Henderson’s list.
Wednesday afternoon of last week the Soaper-Barret Button factory began operations under auspielous circumstances and has been progressing nicely since.
The factory is located in the Soaper building on Water street between second and third and employs about 15 hands. This number will increase as the work gets better in hand. Messrs. W. H. Soaper and Wm. T.
Barret are the owners, of the venture and have not yet determined what name to call it. The buttons are made from mussel shells, of which there are more than 500 tons ready for use, sufficient quantity to last for a year. The daily output of the factory is 600 gross of buttons. All sizes made, but they are not the finished product, with the holes already punched, but merely the blanks, and it is the only manufactory of its kind east of the Mississippi river. The blanks are shipped to a factory on Broadway and Seventy-first street New York, where the finishing and polishing process is put on them by women and girls. The process which the mussel shell undergoes before it is turned out as a button ready for wear is interesting. The shells, 20 tons at a time, after delivery at the factory, are placed in soaking vats to soften them and render cutting easier. They are then delivered to the cutter and the blanks are cut by holding the shell in tongs and cutting in any desired size with a small circular saw while a small stream of water plays upon it. The blanks are then soaked and cleaned with sawdust, which gives them a lustre. They are now ready to be shipped, which is done in small sacks. The refuse shell left after the blanks are taken from it, is crushed and sold for fertilizer purpose.
The enterprise is one that may become very extensive and of great value to the city of Henderson. Many shells for this factory are gathered on the bar opposite Paducah and shipped to Henderson.
References:
News-Democrat (Paducah, Kentucky) • Wed, Dec 14, 1904
Henderson Evening Journal • Sat, Apr 01, 1905
The Gleaner • Wed, Sep 30, 1936
The Gleaner • Sun, Apr 30, 1911