Where shell buttons come from.

[dasabighole]

I find these on the Tennesee River. Shell button blanks.

 

[littleneckhalfshell]

when I was a kid, and visiting my grandma in Queens NY (one of the parts of New York City) we used to walk the couple of blocks to the local newsstand to buy baseball cards with money my grandmother gave us. We always passed a vacant lot that was covered with shells just like the ones you posted. I guess it was a big business at one time.