The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-11-20
EARRINGS IN FAVOR.
History of the Pretty Baubles Since
Ancient Times.

Keystone
There are indications that earrings are
about to come into favor, once more as
articles of feminine adornment
Periodically the susceptibilities of our
prim public opinion in this country are
sorely shocked at the vulgarity and bru
tality of wearing jewelry in the ear. Yet
the practice is of great antiquity, and
recurs with quite remarkable regularity,
its manifestations generally illustrating
the dominant artistic note Of the day.
Jacob gave Rachel an earring of half
shekel, or nearly half an ounce In weight,
and in the days of the prophet Isaiah
earrings were prominent characteristic
of feminine ornamentatiOn. Among many
Eastern nations earrings were worn by
men as well as women, and in our own
land the ornament was the common char
acteristic of both sexes in Elizabethan
times and even later M. Salzmann dis
covered Phoenician earrings in the ruins
of Camyrus, on the island of Rhodes,
which he attributed to the eighth CEN
fury before Christ. These are not fu,
neral jewels, such as were commonly
made to ornament the features of the
dead. They are of fine gold, with elab-
crate embossed work, and tasselS of ex-
quisite delicacy. The Egyptians, his
tory tells US, used jewels primarily as
symbols Of spiritual things, and the
richer classes used gold Sometimes
stuck up into small figures with an econ
omy of material rivaling the skill Of
Birmingham" In its gradual evolu-
ton the earring passed through many
and curious phases. Frequently 1t
claimed close Mnship with the noserng,
to which appendage, revolving as it Is
to our conceptions, much tender romance
has ere now chung. Arvieux, who was
sent by Louis XIV. to make observations
Of the customs of the Arabs, recorded
that it was a piece of gallantry among
the natives to kiss their wives through
the rings hanging from their nostrils
which rings were sometimes large enough
to admit the whole mouth. Under the
voluptuOus reign of Rome earrings and
other personal jewelry were INDUCED in
to safety, and the orgie eliminated In
queen swallowing pearl valued at SIS, 900
in a contest of extravaganza with a Ro-
man noble
Turning to 'the spacious days of great
Elizabeth" We find 1t recorded that her
majesty outshone all rivals of other
lands in magnificence. One historian de-
scribes her wearing in her ears 'ttwo
pearls with drops" another and more
impressionable writer details how that
diamond stalactites glittered from her
ears" And so the fashion came and
went, one generation abhorring what its
predecessor had admired Since the
time of James I. men have made over
to the opposite sex the prerogative of
wearing earrings as the within chances
to seize them. Now and again you may
encounter a navy, sailor or a gypsy
with pair Of tiny gold or silver rings
through his ears, but this is due not to
any freak Of fashion, but to the fact that
healing virtue is imputed to the earring
in the lower ranks Of society. When the
ears are bored slight inf1ammati ton
generally occurs, which acts as a coun err.
4rritant in the case of sore eyes Thus
tradition connects the earrings with the
cure,