Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1888-05-23
HISTORY OF NECKLACES.


Savage and Civilized Peoples.
The earliest known form of necklace
outside of such primitive types as
shells and bits of colored stone comes
from Egypt They were of two kinds.
and what may be called.
for the lack of better word, superstl-
tious. The former were composed of
small stones. of which blue was appar-
emily the favorite color. set in silver
or gold and joined together in chain.
The latter. the armlets. were made of
figures of gods, from three to seven
inches long: Three or four of these
were hung in chain of beads.
The sacred images were believed to
ward off danger of infection. misfort-
une or bad luck. Sometimes these
amulets had no gods on them, but
were composed of cowries or bits of
stone arranged in the forms of locked
horns, fish or crescents, emblematic of
their supposed powers. This SUPER
stitious power of the necklace is wide
ly spread to-day among people who
are not very high in civilization. In
South America there are found
necklaces of peculiarly marked seed
which belongs to a plant growing
only on the mountains, along the
snow line. These seeds when first
gathered are blue in color, and arc
strung on strings. They are highly
valued, not only for their beauty, but
because of the great difficulty in OBJ
tanning them. In the old graves,
which are found now and then. strings
of these seeds are often discovered.
and they are supposed to bring tn
greatest possible luck, especially to
children.
But one does not have to go among
the people of South America or the
negroes of Africa with their gee gee
necklaces to find evidence of supersti-
ton. Thousands of people place
necklaces of coral beads around the
necks of babies, with the belief that
they will assist the children in teeth
ing' and there are many persons VIII.
wear necklaces all the time, thinking
that they bring luck. The Southern
negroes constantly wear their bead
necklaces. looking upon them as gen.
uine charms. and they are very par
ticular about keeping them intact
holding that the charm is broken If
even the relative position of the beads
should be altered when wear makes &
new string necessary. The common
practice among some religious sects
of wearing medallion around the
neck hung to chain or string is akin
to this necklace idea, and in fact is a
variant of it.
Among men who have worn the
necklace must be ranked the warriors
of ancient times. The gold torques OF
the Celts. the massive gold necklaces
of the Medes. Etruscans and Egyp-
tians, which formed the most valuab bic
insignia of the warrior class, have
come down to us through the pictures
in the tombs and the actual specimens
in the tombs themselves. Some OF
these were enormously costly. They
were bestowed as rewards of valor and
as marks of civic distinction. The lat.
ter survive to-day in the gold chains
of office worn by the mayors of cities
in the old world.
All orders of knighthood had the
necklace or collar as a principal in.
signium, and this custom of decora-
ton with the necklace dates back at
least as far as the time of Joseph, for
as mark of his authority in Egypt,
Pharoah put gold chain about his
neck" The women of antiquity rare.
ly wore them, except rs brides, when
to mark the respect in which they were
held, necklaces were placed upon
them. The necklace, however. was a
prominent adornment of the statues of
the gods.
The ornament of the necklace was
so valued that when the Saxon dy-
nasty was overthrow by the Nor
mans, all persons below certain
rank were forbidden to wear them
under heavy penalties In the reign
of Henry VIII. that King celebrated
both for his wives and his revolt
against Rome, any one who had not
f20O per year income could not wear
a necklace. At that time, however,
they became the common ornament of
woman, and in the Elizabethan dram
atists, there are many illusions to
them. In England. amber has always
been one of the favorite materials for
the necklace.
Even in the barrows of the early
Britains amber beads are found, and
the specimens of necklaces from the
reign of Charles L have amber set in
gold. The Pur1tans abolished them
as they abolished every thing they
laid the ir hands on which savored of
ornament but the necklace was re-
vived again under the merry mon arch
more extravagantly than before. It
gradually came to consist of several
chains hung around the neck. each
reaching further down than the one
before. To the longest was hung the
whistle of gold or silver used as call
for servants. These necklaces were OF