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A Pearly King (feminine form Pearly Queen) is a person dressed in a traditional cockney costume covered in mother-of-pearl buttons. These costumes were treasured heirlooms, hand made and sometime representing much of a family's material worth.
According to one account, the pearlies derived from London costermongers who sewed pearls onto their clothing. An orphan costermonger named David Croft collected pearls that had fallen off others' clothes and covered his clothing with them. [1] (http://www.pearlysociety.co.uk/history.htm) Another story claims that in the 1880s a cargo of Japanese pearl buttons was salvaged from the River Thames after the boat carrying it foundered. One of the salvagers, Henry Croft, decorated his suit, hat and stick with pearl buttons, making him the first pearly king.
The pearlies were originally elected by costermongers to safeguard their rights from rivals. Modern pearlies no longer have this role, but tend instead to devote their time to charitable activities.
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