"An industry that once flourished from about 1900 to the 1930s was the art of obtaining clams from the Rock River. The clammers, as these people were known, were people who lived along the river and others who came from some distance who "moved-in" during the clamming season. Those who "moved-in" set up a tent or built a shack of old wood, tin, tar paper or whatever was handy. They obtained a license, a flat bottom boat from 16 to 24 feet long, an inboard motor and as soon as the state authorities opened the season, the clamming was underway. The clamming boat went upstream as far as the motor permitted and then floated downstream with the current to collect clams. During the clamming season, sometimes more than 200 clammers worked the waters of the Rock River in Ogle County. The season lasted approximately 4 months.
"The different kinds of clams found in Rock River were blue-point, which is a small, smooth shelled clam with a bluish color on the end; three ridge; rough-shell or pimple-back; mollusk; and the elephant ears. The three-ridge was the most sought after clam as it was fairly large and had a thick shell. Since clam shells were sold by weight, the shells that produced the most pounds were considered choice. The elephant ears was a large clam with a thin shell and was considered the least desirable. The other varieties added weight and helped to build up the shell pile. Shell buyers traveled along the river and bought the different piles of shells that each clammer collected during the clamming season. Prices of shells reached a peak price of $110 per ton. An average clammer collected about a ton a week and this made made clamming a worth while occupation for those who desired to follow this kind of work. The buyers of the shells shoveled the purchased shells onto a wagon or truck, hauled them to a railroad siding and again shoveled them into a coal car or a gondola. The loaded cars were taken to a button factory at Muscatine, Iowa, where pearl buttons were stamped out of the shells. The remains of the shells that were punched full of holes were discarded.
"In the 1930s the depression took its toll on the clamming business. Prices for shells dropped and the demand for pearl buttons decreased. It was at this time that the plastic buttons appeared on the market. They came in a variety of colors, sizes and shapes and this pleased the customer. By 1935 the prices of clam shells dropped to $30 per ton and the clammers left the river, sold their boats and motors if they could, abandoned the clammers shacks, or folded their tents. Clamming was at the end on the Rock River."
Information taken from "Bicentennial History of Ogle County, 1976" pages 71 & 72
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