Conversation:

I can remeber being at the Bedford Museum, where they had a template of a shell-button press.

The Pearly Kings and Queens' buttons where made out of the nacre of oyster shells (aka Mother of Pearl), which were heated, (I believed softened in boiling water and rolled) and then punched out via mass production or etched out, to make poor people's buttons, as every poor person lived on oysters during Dicken's period.

This is how the Pearly Kings and Queens came into being as a charicature, or history, of their own lifestyle, to create some humour in their lowly lifestyle.

Unfortunately I cannot find anything that backs this up online, and must resort to hard copy.

I'll let you know if this is correct, but certainly the history of 'Pearl' buttons is.

MMF

MMF ... sounds about right to me, the Japanese shipment would have been a welcomed break for the button-makers ... or maybe not, could have hit them in their pockets.