FREE: RARE~6 FOSSIL IVORY TEETH BUTTONS~ON ORIGINAL CARD~RARE

The listing, RARE~6 FOSSIL IVORY TEETH BUTTONS~ON ORIGINAL CARD~RARE has ended.

Up for auction are 6 SUPER RARE Fossil Ivory Teeth Buttons still on their Original Card!!! I bought them at an Estate Sale. The card says "Fossil Ivory Buttons - MADE IN ALASKA - BEAR TOTEM STORE, Wrangler, Alaska". In pencil is written "Seal Teeth". Each tooth measures approximately 1-1/2" long x 1/2" wide at the top. They are hollow inside. There are 2 holes on the back of each tooth for sewing onto a garment, or.....

PLEASE READ FOLLOWING BEFORE BIDDING - Although the card says "fossil", the definition of fossil is: "The remains or impression of a prehistoric organism preserved in petrified form or as a mold or cast in rock". These teeth are not petrified, but they are definitely very old!! Below is part of an article from Wikipedia proving that these buttons had to have been originally sold in the 1920's to early 1950's in Alaska at the Bear Totem Store which burned down in the 1950's.

The renowned Bear Totem Store, built in the 1920s by Walter Waters, housed innumerable examples of Tlingit arts and crafts, as well as a number of irreplaceable totem poles. Waters began his business career carrying mail by boat from Wrangell to Sulzer. During this period, he traveled throughout southeast Alaska as a fur buyer. While on business travels, Waters began to acquire Indian artifacts and make valuable contacts with Indian artisans. He eventually enabled him to open his curio shop, The Bear Totem Store. A severe fire in the early 1950s burned much of the downtown area, destroying the Bear Totem Store and most of its contents. Few historic buildings remained after the fire. The disaster dramatically changed the face of Wrangell, and with new buildings, the past was lost.