The Minneapolis journal., 1903-04-25
BEAD-WEAVING PRESENTATIONS
HAVE MADE MEN VICTIMS.
Tom Made His Sweetheart Chain From the Pattern His
Ancestors Centuries aok-Men Also Fashioning
Their Fobs

."That is the prettiest bead chain have
seen! Did you make it yourself?'' asked an
inquisitive young woman, as she caught
the band of turquoise blue and green
beads, with touches Of black and white,
which encircles the neck Of her friend and
regarded it enviously
The friends cheeks flushed pink. "Tom
made it, she said, proudly. He copied
the pattern from one that was made by
one of his ancestors about 200 years ago.
He has even woven Remember Me- and
my initials between the pattern. His sis
ter was making one and he tried to per-
suade her to give it to me. She wouldn't t
and SO he said he would weave one him
SELF and he did. They made all manner
of fun of him, his mother told me, but he
did SO many rows every night no matter
how late it was when he came in.
don't believe there is another girl in town
who has a bead chain made by her
fiance."
81 don't believe there is," agreed the
other. II know several men who are
doing bead work, but they are all making
fobs for themselves and they do get into
the most draadful tangles with their
threads and their: beads and their pat
terms. They are all working to win
wagers, for they were rash enough to de-
clare that man could weave if a woman
could"
women's work as their red brothers, for an
Indian would not think of adding so much
as bead to his squaw's chain or banner.
Altho many men have taken to the loom
in a spirit Of bravado and to show that
man is equal to woman, they weave quite
as artistically and neatly as those whom
the yare trying to rival. One gray
haired father began to weave to oblige
his small daughter who wanted her chain
by certain day and who did not see how
she was to finish it if she had to go to bed
at a. o'clock every night. Her father
came to the rescue and promised to work
on the chain, if she would retire accord
ing to the established custom and, when
her chain was finished, he was so en-
thusiastic over the weaving that he made
a second, which he gallantly presented to
his wife. ----
Men are more daring in regard to color
and pattern than women" one of the bead
work teachers decided. "They don't real
ize the difficulties Of a pattern until they
are we'll into it, and then they are too
proud to give it up. Some Of the most
elaborate chains I have seen have been
woven by men. Two bachelors are at
work now on intricate fobs and there is
a heavy wager as to which will be finished
first
Lessons in bead work are given a near
/ ly all of the stores where beads and looms
are sold. Where the materials are pur-
chased in the store the lessons are free.
If the patron is already supplied with
beads. the fee is a trif1e and one lesson
suffices.
| At one of the stores free lessons are
given to the children Saturday mornings
| from 8 until II o'clock, and there is a
steady stream of youngsters armed with
their looms going in at the door. Often
there are twenty-five or thirty of them
standing around the tables and bending
over their looms while their tigers deftly
weave the bright beads in and out. For
the first chain they receive a pattern
but, after that is finished, they are eN-
pected to make their own designs and cul-
tivate their originality. Some pretty simple