Vintage Jewelry & People Who Wore It: Introduction

Jewelry Made for Men

Collar studs

This is a collar stud. A man used a collar stud (also known as a collar button) to secure the ends of a detachable collar to each other and to his shirt. The flat, "button" part of the collar stud, in this case made of white mother-of-pearl, lies inside the shirt and collar, against one's neck. The round end of the collar stud pushes through the layers of shirt and collar and protrudes to the exterior.

Cufflinks

This pair of monogrammed 14k gold cufflinks, and the collar button above, belonged to James Love. James was born in 1886 and wore these jewelry pieces in the early 1900s. He farmed the homeplace his grandfather established in 1830 in Quercus Grove, a community in Hamel Township, Madison County, Illinois. James and his sisters also created a showpiece garden of native flowers.

Cufflinks came in several different styles. When James Love wore the cufflinks above, he would thread the curved arm through the cuff buttonholes so that the monogrammed face would appear on the side of the cuff facing the public. The plainer, lozenge-shaped backing would be on the side of the cuff that faced him.

The bullet-shaped toggle backings on the cufflinks shown below swivel to make them easier to thread through the cuff buttonholes.

Two-piece, snap-style cufflinks provided identical decorative faces on both side of the cuff. Unfortunately one could easily lose half of a cufflink, rendering the remaining half useless. That's probably what happened to the purple guilloché enamel cufflink below right.

Chain-style cufflinks also had two decorative faces. The chain connecting the faces prevented losing one of the faces, but they were trickier to use.

Tuxedo shirt studs

Arthur Robert Rich (known as Robert) wore the chain-style cufflinks above with a set of matching shirt studs, shown below. The jewelry ensemble accented his tuxedo.

In the Victorian Era, men and women both adhered to strict fashion codes. Propriety dictated specific attire for each time of day and type of activity. The tuxedo, also known as the English dinner jacket, started out as semi-formal wear. Invented in the 1880s, it was named after Tuxedo Park, a summer resort in New York. A man could wear a tuxedo for evening parties or dinner at a friend's house, as long as women were not present. Otherwise, he needed to wear a full dress coat with tails. The tuxedo didn't become acceptable formal evening attire until the 1910s.

Robert was born in 1909, just when the tuxedo became a wardrobe staple for men. Robert started out as a tester at the Shell Oil refinery in Wood River, Illinois, working his way up to foreman by the late 1960s. His wife donated two sets of matching tuxedo studs and chain-style cufflinks (including the set shown here) to the Madison County Historical Society in 1988.

Today most men don't own a tuxedo. Many men only wear a tuxedo once in their life – at their wedding – and choose to rent the tuxedo and its accompanying jewelry. But in the past, when men wore tuxedos fairly frequently to evening dinners and parties, it made sense to own your own.

Tie clips

A tie clip keeps the bottom length of tie hidden under the top part. It also attaches the tie to one's shirt so that the tie doesn't hang down when the wearer bends over. Basically a tie clip keeps one's tie neat and tidy. In the photographs below, the wearer on the left has successfully implemented his tie clip. The wearer on the right demonstrates an example of ineffective tie clip use.

Sources

Sources consulted for this article include Wood River (Illinois) and Edwardsville (Illinois) city directories, United States census records, and the following additional sources:

• Gernsheim, Alison. Victorian and Edwardian Fashion: A Photographic Survey. New York: Dover Publications, 1981. Available at the Madison County Archival Library.
• Maclochlainn, Jason. The Victorian Tailor: An Introduction to Period Tailoring. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2011. Available at the Madison County Archival Library.
• Moorhead, Katharine. History of Quercus Grove Community. Manuscript. May 27, 1973. Madison County Historical Society.
• Rosinos, J.G.E. Show Garden in the Country. Manuscript. Circa 1959. Madison County Historical Society.
• Speidel. "Anson." Accessed August 3, 2017. ansonjewelry.com
• Stulik, Dusan C., and Art Kaplan. The Atlas of Analytical Signatures of Photographic Processes: Platinotype. Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 2013. Accessed August 4, 2017. getty.edu
• Walkup, Fairfax Proudfit. Dressing the Part: A History of Costume for the Theatre. Rev. ed. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1950. Available at the Madison County Archival Library.
• Weinstein, Robert A., and Larry Booth. Collection, Use, and Care of Historical Photographs. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History, 1978. Available at the Madison County Archival Library.

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Jewelry Made of Hair

Hairwork jewelry of the early Victorian period (1837-1860) sometimes served as mourning jewelry, made from the hair of and worn to honor a recently departed loved one. But often people gave brooches or bracelets made from hair simply as a sentimental token of love or friendship.

Hair artistry reached its peak during the 1840s and 1850s. Skillful hair creation numbered among the accomplishments of a proper young woman. Godey's Lady's Book published patterns for hairwork bracelets. People could also have their hair fashioned into jewelry by a professional jeweler. Linherr and Company of New York offered a full line of bracelets, brooches, and necklaces made to order from hair supplied by the customer.

Caroline Gaston

The hair used to make the jewelry shown above came from Caroline Gaston. We know a great deal about Caroline's husband Amnon Gaston — and by extension a little bit about Caroline — from Amnon's hand-written, two-volume autobiography. The autobiography is part of the Madison County Historical Society's collection at the Madison County Archival Library.

As a young man living in central New York, Amnon Gaston wondered what to do with his life. He studied and taught at religious institutions (including the Oneida Institute) and contemplated entering the ministry. He fell in love with a woman named Susan Lowe, who shared his interest in teaching and ministry. Amnon and Susan got engaged in the summer of 1834, postponing marriage until Amnon finished his studies. In the meantime, Susan went to Cincinnati to teach in the black community there.

Susan and Amnon exchanged letters over the next two years. Amnon had no inkling that Susan's feelings had changed until he suddenly received a letter from a friend saying that Susan had married someone else. The news crushed the 26-year-old Amnon.

Amnon stuck with his studies and was ordained a Presbyterian minister in February of 1837. Six months later he married Caroline Sumner. The couple left the day after the wedding for Whiteside County, Illinois, where Amnon's father lived. They rented a tiny one-room log cabin that Amnon describes as "miserable … without cellar, chamber, pantry, bedroom, fireplace, or cooking stove."

Amnon's autobiography makes little mention of his wife. Fresh from a broken heart, he may have married Caroline more to meet social expectations than out of true love. It is easy to imagine that Caroline had a lonely life as a 22-year-old newlywed keeping house in a dismal cabin, her husband over 100 miles away on a preaching circuit that included Gap Grove, Buffalo Grove, and Sterling. The couple had two children before moving to Wisconsin in 1841, where their third child was born. Amnon died in 1849 at the age of 40. Caroline and the kids moved back to New York within a year after his death.

These three pieces of hairwork may have been made as mourning jewelry, but none of them bear inscriptions explicitly indicating this use. The date of Caroline's death is uncertain, but sources suggest she died in the 1850s. A note accompanying the items indicates that one of the brooches also contains hair from Caroline's oldest child, Susannah, who died in 1867 at the age of 29. The Madison County Historical Society received the jewelry from the estate of Dr. John Noble Shaff and Mrs. Josephine Shaff (née Gaston, Caroline's granddaughter), of Alton, Illinois.

Jewelry containing hair

By the mid-Victorian period (1860-1895), jewelry made of hair had gone out of style. Instead, people sentimental about the hair of loved ones simply preserved the locks inside a brooch or pendant designed to safeguard it. This little oval brooch contains the hair of Emma Roth (née Kuhnen) beneath the glass on one face. Emma's hair has been woven into a tight grid that fills the space. The brooch swivels to display a design of blue flowers in gold-toned foliage on the other side.

Emma was born in 1849 to parents who had emigrated from Switzerland. Like many other Swiss immigrants, they settled in Highland, Illinois. She died in 1911.

Sources

Sources consulted for this article include United States and New York census records, and the following additional sources:

• Bell, C. Jeanenne. Answers to Questions about Old Jewelry: Covers 1840-1950. 6th ed. Iola: Kraus Publications, 2003.
• Cox, Caroline. Vintage Jewelry Design: Classics to Collect & Wear. New York: Lark Crafts, 2010.
• Druitt, Silvia. Antique Personal Possessions. Poole: Blandford Press, 1980.
• Find A Grave. "Emma Kuhnen Roth." Accessed July 28, 2017. findagrave.com
• Flower, Margaret. Victorian Jewellery. South Brunswick: A.S. Barnes and Co., 1951.
• Gaston, Amnon. Autobiography in two volumes, 1844-1849. Manuscript. Madison County Historical Society item 2006-034-0132/0133. This handwritten account by Gaston of his life describes his work as a preacher, his despair after Susan ends their engagement, a rift with his father over religion and money, and the dying process as he battles consumption.
• Harris, Roland. "A Thought to Remember: Willis Draper to Celebrate His 100th Birthday." News Leader [Highland, Illinois]. January 15, 2015.

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Ivory Pins and Pendants

Ivory jewelry enjoyed popularity during the Victorian Era, a period of time named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom encompassing the years of her reign (1837-1901). Jewelry artists used ivory, coral, and jet to make secondary jewelry, i.e. pieces less expensive than those made from precious metals and stones. As people began to travel more in the mid-1800s, they brought carved jewelry pieces home as souvenirs from Switzerland and France.

Large ivory brooches reached their height of popularity in the mid-Victorian period (1860-1885). By the end of the Victorian Era, jewelry became more delicate, brooches were very small, and ivory fell out of fashion.

The two ivory brooches pictured above lack extensive documentation. A handwritten note accompanying the brooch at the left indicates that it was brought from Switzerland to the United States in 1889.

A woman with an ivory brooch

The photograph below depicts a woman wearing a similar brooch.

The Madison County Historical Society received this photograph of an unknown preacher and his wife, who once lived near Pleasant Ridge, from the estate of Martha Lange Meier. Martha Lange married Louis Meier in 1897. The couple lived in Pleasant Ridge, where Martha attended St. John's Lutheran Church. Perhaps Martha became acquainted with this couple through her church.

The photograph has the typical shiny surface and sepia tone of an albumen print. The technique began in about 1855 and employed very thin paper coated with egg whites (albumen). An albumen print mounted on 4.5″ x 6.5″ card stock, like this one, is called a cabinet card.

This cabinet card includes information about the photography studio embossed in fancy lettering on the front of the card below the photograph. Reading from left to right, the card reads "Welge" "the leading studio" "Chester Ill."

William Welge opened his photography studio on State Street in Chester, Illinois, in about 1902. But by that time the popularity of albumen prints had already started to wane. Welge probably produced this photograph shortly after he opened his studio.

The yellowing and the evident grain on this pendant identify it as ivory, as opposed to bone or a synthetic material like celluloid. However, this piece lacks the characteristic "engine turned" look of elephant ivory. It may be made of hippopotamus or walrus tusk.

Sources

• Bell, C. Jeanenne. Answers to Questions about Old Jewelry: Covers 1840-1950. 6th ed. Iola: Kraus Publications, 2003.
• Flower, Margaret. Victorian Jewellery. South Brunswick: A.S. Barnes and Co., 1967.
• Huffstutler, Jessie Lee. I Remember: Early Memories of Chester, Illinois. Chester, 1976. Accessed July 19, 2017. archive.org
• [Mrs. Martha Meier obituary]. Edwardsville Intelligencer. January 12, 1955.
• Weinstein, Robert A., and Larry Booth. Collection, Use, and Care of Historical Photographs. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History, 1978. Available at the Madison County Archival Library.

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A Very Special Necklace

Someone has fitted the box for this ivory necklace with protective inserts fashioned from pieces of cardboard cut from a cereal box and wrapped in linen. The final owner, Albert LePage, marked the lid with instructions for handling it:

"This is the top of this box. Please do not turn over. Please be most careful with it."

Albert's handwritten note inside the box explains the necklace's significance:

"This strand of solid ivory beads … was given to me by a Miss Cruse, a blind girl from Patoka, Illinois, with a promise I never sell or give them to anyone. That promise I have kept since 1931. … Miss Cruse was a writer for a worldwide braille newspaper. The beads were sent to Miss Cruse by one of her blind pen pals from India."

But the note raises more questions than it answers. Who was Miss Cruse? What was the name of the braille newspaper that employed her? Who was her pen pal in India? And perhaps the biggest question of all — Why did she give the necklace to Albert?

Who was Miss Cruse?

Born in Illinois in 1892, Georgia Cruse had her sight for the first seventeen years of her life. Census records suggest that Charles and Alice Cruse of Patoka, Illinois, adopted Georgia sometime after she reached the age of eight.

Georgia excelled at school and helped out in her dad's restaurant, the Bon-Ton. She was waiting on a customer one day when all of a sudden a soda water bottle exploded. The glass hit Georgia on the eye. An operation in St. Louis failed to restore her sight.

Georgia rallied and grew up to become a beloved member of Patoka society. Particularly active in the Ladies Fancy Work Club, she served as the organization's president, wrote papers for group discussion, and championed the club's commitment to community beautification.

Georgia had a lovely voice. She sang at her cousin's wedding and visited the couple several times in Muskegon, Michigan. There she met Olaf Ingvald Settem, who would later become her husband.

Why did she give the necklace to Albert?

Before living happily ever after with Ingvald, Georgia had to overcome yet another encounter with adversity. In March of 1931, at the age of 38, she had a serious operation to remove a tumor. Complications landed Georgia in the hospital three more times where she underwent at least four more operations over the ensuing year. Georgia drew dangerously close to death more than once. Perhaps this is why she decided to give away the necklace, surely a prized possession, to someone she could trust to take care of it if she died.

A little about Albert LePage

Albert and Sarepta Anna were both 25 years old when they married in 1907. They lived in East St. Louis, where Albert owned a bakery. On New Year's Day in 1915, Albert started a new career as a salesman with the Armour and Company meat company. The childless couple moved to Edwardsville before the end of the year.

But in 1916, the National Guard of Missouri called up their reserves. Albert joined Company E and served in Laredo, Texas, on the Mexican border. Albert left the service in 1919 and resumed his career as a traveling meat salesman with Armour. His territory encompassed rural Illinois east of the metro St. Louis area, including Patoka.

It is easy to imagine Albert, a lonely itinerant salesman in his forties, stopping in for lunch at the Bon-Ton restaurant and striking up a conversation with Georgia, an accomplished and lively woman eleven years his junior. By the time the gravely ill Georgia gave him her necklace for safekeeping, they must have become close friends.

The end of the story

Georgia finally recovered from her illness in the spring of 1932. On March 18, 1933, at the age of 40, she married Olaf Ingvald Settem. Georgia and Ingvald lived in Patoka until her father passed away in 1941. They then moved to Muskegon where they remained until Georgia died in 1986 at the age of 94.

In the meantime, Albert quit the meat industry by 1940 and went into business for himself selling auto accessories. His wife Anna died in 1958. Albert retired in 1960 and dedicated himself to his hobby of raising cactus plants, which he had first encountered back when he was stationed in Texas with the National Guard. Albert died in 1965 at the age of 83.

What braille newspaper did Georgia write for? Who was her pen pal in India?

Unfortunately the answers to these questions remain a mystery. However, two 1937 articles by Georgia Cruse Settem in the Christian Science Sentinel substantiate the fact that Georgia enjoyed a career as a published author. True to her nature, Georgia dealt with the topic of "Overcoming Limitation," writing:

"[E]very problem is one of limitation in one form or another … These phases of error are but false beliefs … that there is another power and presence more powerful than good, and that it limits one's efforts to achieve happiness."

Sources

Sources consulted for this article include several newspapers, primarily the Edwardsville Intelligencer and the Patoka Register, and United States census records. Georgia Settem's obituary and 50th anniversary announcement were obtained with the assistance of Hackley Public Library and the Muskegon County Genealogical Society in Muskegon, Michigan. Settem's articles in the Christian Science Sentinel were obtained with the assistance of Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.

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Rock Crystal Necklaces

These two necklaces of graduated rock crystals have many similarities and many differences.

Similarities

Both necklaces boast clear rock crystals of graduated size, with the largest crystal approximately 5/8″ diameter. Small crystal spacers separate the main crystals. Each necklace fastens via a fishhook clasp.

Differences

The necklace on the left measures 16.5″ long (which is 2″ shorter than the necklace on the right), with 25 main crystals (versus 35). The former necklace is strung on a very fine metal chain, while the latter uses a string cord. The necklace on with metal chain has additional metal spacers between the main crystals.

A close-up look at the rock crystal beads reveals another difference. The facet surfaces on the crystals of the shorter necklace (with the metal spacers) are shaped like pentagons. Those on the longer necklace are rectangular.

Gladys Riechmann (née Rule) received the shorter necklace (strung on the metal chain) as a high school graduation present from her grandmother, Amelia Herchenreder, in 1931.

The longer necklace belonged to Grace Calvin (née Anderson). She probably first purchased or received it in the 1910s. She later passed it down to her daughter-in-law, Phylomine (née Ervin).

Rock crystal jewelry expressed the Art Deco aesthetic that began in the 1910s and reached its peak in the 1920s and 1930s. Influenced by Cubism and rejecting any art that looked to the past for inspiration, Art Deco explored the clean beauty of materials without fussy ornamentation.

Woman wearing rock crystal jewelry

In the undated photograph above, Lorraine Hinde's rock crystal necklace and earrings accent her flapper fashion ensemble. Lorraine was born in 1906 and grew up in Venice, Illinois, with her parents and brother. Lorraine moved to Council Bluffs in 1928. She taught at the Iowa School of the Deaf until her marriage to Josalyn Raymond took her to Chicago, Illinois, in 1935.

The photograph was taken by Art Carver in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Carver had his own photography studio in Council Bluffs in 1910. He stayed in Council Bluffs until the early 1930s, when he moved to Minnesota.

This information helps to date the photograph to 1928-1935. Lorraine, a woman in her twenties, wears a short, wavy bob that shows off her dangling earrings. Her necklace looks about 18″ long.

Sources

Sources consulted for this article include the Des Moines Register, the Daily Nonpareil out of Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States census records, and the following books:

• Bell, C. Jeanenne. Answers to Questions about Old Jewelry: Covers 1840-1950. 6th ed. Iola: Kraus Publications, 2003.
• Cox, Caroline. Vintage Jewelry Design: Classics to Collect & Wear. New York: Lark Crafts, 2010.

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Staff Favorites

The Madison County Historical Society's collection harbors jewelry both stunning and strange. The enthusiast has many favorites from which to choose. Some staff picks are featured below.

A 19th-century dog collar necklace

This beaded choker fit around the slender neck of Mary Judy Burroughs, pictured below with her husband Benjamin. Mary was born in 1850 and died in 1940. The Burroughses married in 1873. Alexandra, the Princess of Wales (i.e. the wife of Queen Victoria's son and heir, Edward), favored the dog collar since it flattered her long, graceful neck. As a result, chokers soared in popularity in the late 1800s.

A creepy brooch

Perhaps unsurprisingly after 50 years of marriage, William and Sophia look rather similar to each other in this photograph. They appear well-matched in stature and build, they both have broad foreheads, high cheekbones, and thin lips. They also both sport a form of neck ornamentation. William's neckbeard, which doesn't approach his chin or sideburns at all, almost looks like a fur collar. And Sophia has adorned her high-necked and puffy-sleeved dress with a fair-sized brooch — maybe 2″ or 3″ diameter — in the shape of a stylized spider sporting only six legs.

Insect jewelry of all kinds flourished during the mid-Victorian period (1860-1885). Women decorated themselves with butterflies, dragonflies, and bees; grasshoppers, beetles, and hornets; and even ticks, woodlice, earwigs, and bed-bugs.

Sparkling accessories

This glittering rhinestone belt buckle with matching shoe clips lacks documentation. But comparison with similar items strongly suggests they date to the 1930s. The buckle is two parts which connect together via a hook and loop on the undersides. A woman could transform any drab outfit into a dazzling ensemble by slipping the buckle halves onto a coordinating cloth belt and attaching the matching clips to the vamps of her shoes.

Jewelry as folk art

The Madison County Historical Society received this necklace from its creator, Josephine Motz Narup (née Urich). Alternating cross-wise and longitudinal safety pins strung with tiny black and white beads entirely compose the long strand. The monumental pendant has been achieved using the same materials and a bit of curved wire. Although the piece lacks documentation to definitely date it, Josephine probably made it in the 1950s, the heyday of beaded safety pin crafting. Artisans also made intricate and beautiful baskets from the same materials during this period. Josephine was born in 1920 and would have been in her thirties at the time.

Sources

• Bell, C. Jeanenne. Answers to Questions about Old Jewelry: Covers 1840-1950. 6th ed. Iola: Kraus Publications, 2003.
• CountryLiving. "Vintage Bead Basket Appraisal." Accessed August 10, 2017. countryliving.com
• Cox, Caroline. Vintage Jewelry Design: Classics to Collect & Wear. New York: Lark Crafts, 2010.
• Find A Grave. "Benjamin Rudolph Burroughs." Accessed July 28, 2017. findagrave.com
• Flower, Margaret. Victorian Jewellery. South Brunswick: A.S. Barnes and Co., 1967.
• [Josephine Narup obituary]. Published in The Telegraph [Alton, Illinois] from April 15 to April 16, 2017. legacy.com

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