A 20th Century Woman

A faint jingle always preceded her and made our little bodies wiggle with anticipation. Aunt Edith opened her door to a linen and lace covered table set with elaborate displays of freshly baked cookies and perfect little sandwiches, crusts removed. As always, the house was in immaculate condition. Truly a feat for a woman nearly eighty years of age. For our part, we used our best manners and sat quietly while tea and glasses of juice were poured.

Aunt Edith was easy to love. She was beautiful; her hair was always coiffed to perfection in soft silver swirls. Around her brilliant blue eyes were lines that expressed a life of love and laughter. Even without prior notice, she seemed always prepared to entertain with delicate treats. She, herself, would never arrive at anyone's house either unannounced or empty handed. Where there were children, her bags always contained an exotic treasure, stacking dolls from Russia or rice paper candy from Japan, perhaps just a few foreign coins, but always something.

It was not just her sweet demeanor and generosity that kept us all in line, it was more her dignified presence. She was an accomplished woman, and she knew it. She was the quintessential modern woman of the 20th century. Born in 1897, she was 23 when women in the US got the right to vote. Raised on an Ohio farm by a single mother of 5 children she learned hard work and discipline at a very young age. Instead of marrying she got her PhD in Home Economics from Ohio State University and spent her life teaching women on farms and in Universities how to save money, clean more efficiently, and prepare the healthiest possible meals for families with limited resources.

Women of her generation generally either had careers or families but not both. Although she was very beautiful, and my mother told me that she had many gentlemen callers, she valued her independence. Perhaps she learned from her mother and from caring for her 4 brothers that a man to look after is not always a blessing. So at the end of her life, her house and property were her own, and she was very proud of this. She had enough money during her final 20 years to travel anywhere that she wished.

Her memories of these trips danced around her in the jewelry that adorned her body. On her right wrist she wore charms from Europe. In her ears were articulated fish earrings from Thailand. Around her neck were mummy beads and a gold scarab from Egypt. But by far, my favorite piece of jewelry was her golden coin bracelet from South Africa worn on her left wrist. It was simply beautiful and it brought to her mind adventurous tales of wild animals and stunning landscapes. There is no doubt that her stories influenced my passion for both jewelry and travel. Without the strong and adventurous woman of our past, we simply could not be the women that we are today.

Thank you Aunt Edith!

*Inspired by the One Minute Writer.

Antiquities

Pieces of old Tibetan amber set in silver with old Tibetan coral. Broken bits of Roman Glass with antique carnelian and turquoise beads. Try clicking on the image to see it larger.

This past weekend I was in Richmond, VA selling at a gem and jewelry show. I'm still recovering. The shows are long and difficult and I usually return sick.

Next door to our building there was an antique show. At this particular venue, I always get a lot of people wandering over from next door, asking me to identify Asian items for them. They also want me to show them my antiques. However, most of the items that I buy in Nepal are not old. The reason that I prefer to buy new items is that creating something new provides a craftsman with a job. The selling of antiquities breeds a negative market. In effect, it creates a market for stolen goods. If the item is not stolen from a temple then it may be a forgery which, to my mind, is creating an object that from its inception is meant to deceive. There are real Himalayan antiques out there from legitimate sources, but they are very expensive and one really needs to know what one is looking at. (I would not recommend buying antiquities on line.)

A few of my jewelry suppliers are very good at recycling though. They buy up old beads in bits and pieces and then create something new with them. This helps the poor to make some money from their broken bits of jewelry. My customers can receive a new piece of jewelry that may have at least a couple of beads in it that are hundreds or even a thousand years old. Often they have no idea what they are looking at unless I tell them. They simply like the look of the pieces.

In the pictures above, only the larger coral beads at the bottom of each piece are old. In the image on the right, the black beads with white and yellow stripes are the Roman glass that may be a thousand years old or more. Sometimes these things were in older pieces of jewelry that fell apart, sometimes they are broken bits of bracelets or other things that people grind down and drill for use as beads. When you live on the silk road, there are always treasures to be found in the dirt. All of our items are inspected by the archeology office in Nepal before shipping to make sure that we are not removing anything that we should not.

Design Contest, A World of Good Inc.

Sue Swanezy, winner of the 2008, A World of Good, Inc. Design Contest

Hi Everyone!

It's time for our annual design contest. We need your vote. Voting will take place from February 20th through February 27th, 2009. We only accept 1 vote per email address and no automated responses. Your email address is used only for this vote and then discarded. You will not be on our mailing list unless you request to be.

Please view the contestants http://aworldofgood.com/, click on Contest Entries. Thanks for participating!