Ahead of Thursday’s dedication at Tapawingo Park, how light, 3D printing and data straight from the Wabash River play into a new sculpture from West Lafayette’s artist-in-residence project
So, not a lot of locals talk/know about this, but Lafayette was part of a freshwater pearl boom in the late 1800s, early 1900s. Before plastics, factories would pop up in river towns that had a big population of pearl mussels, and people (called "mussel men") fished and dove for pearls and punched buttons out of the shells. The buttons are quite lovely, with an opalescent front and rough back. Inevitably, they overfished the Wabash and killed the mussels off. Sometimes you can find a "certified Wabash river pearl" on the antiques market - it's often just a mussel shell but fun to think about.
Four things. 1. Your article reminded me about Esteban's work and Foam City. Maybe you should write an article about Paul Baldwin's cultural contributions to Lafayette. 2. I love Johnny Cash and I did not know about the Wabash song. Wow. Mind blown. 3. I'm currently writing a chapter for my second book about Native Indiana and the chapter is Wabash River-centered. The river has been on my mind, might say a confluence of ideas. 4. It was the Wabash River that convinced me to take the job at Purdue. The sight of that beautiful river running through the town convinced me I'd be ok here. And I'm still ok here. Well done, Dave.
So, not a lot of locals talk/know about this, but Lafayette was part of a freshwater pearl boom in the late 1800s, early 1900s. Before plastics, factories would pop up in river towns that had a big population of pearl mussels, and people (called "mussel men") fished and dove for pearls and punched buttons out of the shells. The buttons are quite lovely, with an opalescent front and rough back. Inevitably, they overfished the Wabash and killed the mussels off. Sometimes you can find a "certified Wabash river pearl" on the antiques market - it's often just a mussel shell but fun to think about.
A history: https://blog.history.in.gov/indianas-pearl-and-button-boom/
Four things. 1. Your article reminded me about Esteban's work and Foam City. Maybe you should write an article about Paul Baldwin's cultural contributions to Lafayette. 2. I love Johnny Cash and I did not know about the Wabash song. Wow. Mind blown. 3. I'm currently writing a chapter for my second book about Native Indiana and the chapter is Wabash River-centered. The river has been on my mind, might say a confluence of ideas. 4. It was the Wabash River that convinced me to take the job at Purdue. The sight of that beautiful river running through the town convinced me I'd be ok here. And I'm still ok here. Well done, Dave.
Thanks for that note. Here's more from a 2018 article that looked at the Lafayette connections to that song. https://www.jconline.com/story/opinion/columnists/dave-bangert/2018/08/09/bangert-time-johnny-cash-stopped-lafayette-go-fishing/934430002/