Beads in Contemporary History
Considered the beginning of modern bead manufacturing, Indo-Pacific beads, also called "trade-wind beads," were believed to be first manufactured at Arikamedu, on the southeast coast of India.
Archaeological evidence suggests they were first manufactured there between 250 and 150 BCE.
Indo-Pacific beads are small (under a diameter of 6 mm) and undecorated.
They were made in several opaque colors, including red, orange, yellow, green, and black.
Translucent colors of these beads include blue, green, violet, and amber.
White ones were manufactured to be either clear or opaque.
They were most often shaped into a roughly oblate shape, although tubes or disks are also commonly found in the archaeological record.
They are found in archaeological sites throughout East Africa, the Persian Gulf, India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan.
Indo-Pacific beads dominated the world bead trading market until the Venetians discovered a way to make them out of glass during the Middle Ages.
The Venetians were the leaders in the world bead market from the Middle Ages through the late 19th Century.
Their glass-blowing techniques created glass beads of extreme beauty and complexity.
They were widely traded with native, primitive cultures during the Age of Exploration.
The Czech beading industry has long produced glass beads thought to be second to the Venetian beading industry in quality and widespread distribution.
Although two world wars in the 20th Century greatly diminished the industry, it has survived and is once again beginning to thrive, as evidenced by the quantity exported to other countries each year.
Beaded clothes became wildly popular during the 19th Century.
This popularity lasted throughout Victorian times and into the Edwardian era of the early 20th Century.
Flappers of the 1920's were mad about beads, wearing entire dresses covered with them.
Beaded handbags and accessories continued to be popular until the 1950's, but then began to decline in popularity.
With the advent of the Hippie Movement in the 1960's, they regained popularity, at least in the counterculture of the day.
Love beads--a simple string of beads--were the quintessential jewelry of the hippies.
It was also popular to make your own beaded jewelery during this period.
Beginning in the 1970's, beaded clothes and accessories began to gain in popularity.
Home crafters began to create knit or crochet beaded bags.
Beads were also widely used on clothing, shoes, and other accessories.
At the turn of the 21st Century, beading is more popular than ever.
They are used on everything from shoes to purses, coats to hats, casual to dress clothes.
Entire stores devoted solely to beads and their accessories are in virtually every major city of the U.
S.
Beads can be traced back to the earliest human settlements, even before we began to live in cities.
Today they remain popular as jewelry or as embellishments on clothing.
Copyright Sharon Shares, 2011
Archaeological evidence suggests they were first manufactured there between 250 and 150 BCE.
Indo-Pacific beads are small (under a diameter of 6 mm) and undecorated.
They were made in several opaque colors, including red, orange, yellow, green, and black.
Translucent colors of these beads include blue, green, violet, and amber.
White ones were manufactured to be either clear or opaque.
They were most often shaped into a roughly oblate shape, although tubes or disks are also commonly found in the archaeological record.
They are found in archaeological sites throughout East Africa, the Persian Gulf, India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan.
Indo-Pacific beads dominated the world bead trading market until the Venetians discovered a way to make them out of glass during the Middle Ages.
The Venetians were the leaders in the world bead market from the Middle Ages through the late 19th Century.
Their glass-blowing techniques created glass beads of extreme beauty and complexity.
They were widely traded with native, primitive cultures during the Age of Exploration.
The Czech beading industry has long produced glass beads thought to be second to the Venetian beading industry in quality and widespread distribution.
Although two world wars in the 20th Century greatly diminished the industry, it has survived and is once again beginning to thrive, as evidenced by the quantity exported to other countries each year.
Beaded clothes became wildly popular during the 19th Century.
This popularity lasted throughout Victorian times and into the Edwardian era of the early 20th Century.
Flappers of the 1920's were mad about beads, wearing entire dresses covered with them.
Beaded handbags and accessories continued to be popular until the 1950's, but then began to decline in popularity.
With the advent of the Hippie Movement in the 1960's, they regained popularity, at least in the counterculture of the day.
Love beads--a simple string of beads--were the quintessential jewelry of the hippies.
It was also popular to make your own beaded jewelery during this period.
Beginning in the 1970's, beaded clothes and accessories began to gain in popularity.
Home crafters began to create knit or crochet beaded bags.
Beads were also widely used on clothing, shoes, and other accessories.
At the turn of the 21st Century, beading is more popular than ever.
They are used on everything from shoes to purses, coats to hats, casual to dress clothes.
Entire stores devoted solely to beads and their accessories are in virtually every major city of the U.
S.
Beads can be traced back to the earliest human settlements, even before we began to live in cities.
Today they remain popular as jewelry or as embellishments on clothing.
Copyright Sharon Shares, 2011