Trade Beads on a (Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

Wikipedia: Trade beads were otherwise decorative glass beads used between the 16th and 20th century as a currency to exchange for goods, services and slaves. Made to ease the passage of European explorers and then traders mainly across the African continents, the beads were made throughout Europe although the Venetians dominated production. Trade beads are also found in the United States and Canada, and throughout Latin America. The production of trade beads became so popular that literally tons of these beads were used for this purpose. Beads were used as ballast in ships for the outbound trip. The beads and other trade items were exchanged for human cargo as well as ivory, gold and other goods desired in Europe and around the world. The beads traded were not of a set design, but were produced according to demand.

Brightandshinythings with Trade Beads, old and new, can be found here.  The modern-day trade beads were created by the extremely talented Amy Hoover.

How the Beads Found Pieces of Harmony

Once upon a time there was a box of beads and they could not get along.



"We come from the sea, so we are better than you," said the beads of shell.



"We can do one better than that," said the mother of pearl beads, "because we lived inside creatures who lived inside the ocean."



"We lived deep in the earth, alongside the Morlocks," said the Kambaba beads.  "Clearly we are superior."



"We were shot out of a volcano!" said the lava beads.  "Need we say more?"




"We're nuts!" said the nut beads.  "We don't care."



"We come from the cradle of civilization, in Africa," the trade beads countered.



"We were carved from bones ~ the essence of life itself," claimed the beads of bone.



And so it went, with all the beads arguing and rolling on the ground.

Finally a bead of pressed glass, from the Czech Republic, spoke up.  "Can't we all just get along?" she asked.



This sounded vaguely familiar to the beads, so they stopped rolling for a moment to listen.

"It is true we come from all the corners of the earth," she continued.



"The earth doesn't have corners," muttered the resin beads.



But the pressed glass bead pressed on.  "And from the seven seas... and lots of oceans, too."

"Don't forget the islands," grumbled the beads from Indonesia.



"Hath not a bead holes?" she asked.  "Hath not a bead edges, drill marks, mandrel scratches, finishes... blasted in the same kilns, tossed by the same waters, dug out from the same earth?"



"If you drop us, do we not roll away?  If you string us, do we not make harmony with the beads beside us?  If you wrap us too tightly, do we not crack?"



"If you discard us, do we not trip the family dog?  If you string us, are we not strung?  If you wire us, are we not wired?  If you wrap us, are we not... um... wrapped?"

The beads murmured and rolled amongst themselves.  They considered the words of the Czech bead.  "She has a point!" said the pearls.



"No, that's just a flaw," said the lampworks.  "Happens to the best of us."



"She could be right," said the crow beads.



"I don't know.  I'm nuts!  said the nut beads.

But as they looked at each other (through beady little eyes) they had to agree that, no matter what their origins, they had a lot in common.



And so, without further ado, they rolled together, joined holes, and decided to bead all that they could bead.



And they all lived in pieces of harmony until the next time they had the same discussion.   (You can find these bead stars here.)