Monday, October 16, 2023 – A WEEKEND WITH TWO ADVENTURES
OUR HEARTS GO OUR TO OUR FRIENDS, FAMILIES AND NEIGHBORS IN ISRAEL
FROM THE ARCHIVES
MONDAY , OCTOBER 16, 2023
A WEEKEND OF
ADVENTURES
ISSUE# 1101
JUDITH BERDY
HISTORICAL AMERICAN
RAINY SATURDAY, A PERFECT TIME FOR HAT PAINTING WITH GEORGE KRASSAS, SPONSORED BY I DIG TO LEARN AND COLER LONG TERM CARE.
PHOTOS BY GHILA KRATZMAN AND JUDITH BERDY
George encouraged the kids (and adults) to use the paints and enjoy the fun of free flow art.
Nina and Oona with a freshly painted masterpiece
George has made cap art for years and is eager to share with others
It took two artists to work with all the kids and families
George Krassas, Chrisina Delfico and Judith Berdy enoying the activity.
The joy of free flow art!!!
It takes concentration!!!
SUNDAY, IN SEARCH OF THE ILLUSIVE
TAGUA JEWELRY STORE.
It took me a while to find 145 Front Street in Brooklyn, Today the BQE was closed and the streets around DUMBO were jamned with impatient drivers, lots of cops and someone who has no talents with a Google map, me.
After wandering thru the hip and crowded street near York Street I finally located the small arcade where The Tagua is located. GREAT!! Wonderful displays of jewelry and creations on exhibit in this closed shop. The sign on the door said the shop would reopen October 24th.(Please change your listing on Google)
What is a Tagua nut? From Wikipedia:
Vegetable ivory or tagua nut is a product made from the very hard white endosperm of the seeds of certain palm trees. Vegetable ivory is named for its resemblance to animal ivory. Species in the genus Phytelephas (literally “elephant plant”), native to South America, are the most important sources of vegetable ivory. The seeds of the Caroline ivory-nut palm from the Caroline Islands, natangura palm from Solomon Islands and Vanuatu,[1] and the real fan palm, from Sub-Saharan Africa, are also used to produce vegetable ivory.[2] A tagua palm can take up to 15 years to mature. But once it gets to this stage it can go on producing vegetable ivory for up to 100 years. In any given year a tagua palm can produce up to 20 pounds of vegetable ivory.[3]
The material is called corozo or corosso when used in buttons.
An early use of vegetable ivory, attested from the 1880s, was the manufacture of buttons. Rochester, New York was a center of manufacturing where the buttons were “subjected to a treatment which is secret among the Rochester manufacturers”, presumably improving their “beauty and wearing qualities”.[5] Before plastic became common in button production, about 20% of all buttons produced in the US were made of vegetable ivory.[6]
Vegetable ivory has been used extensively to make dice, knife handles, and chess pieces. It is a very hard and dense material. Similar to stone, it is too hard to carve with a knife but instead requires hacksaws and files.[1]
Vegetable ivory is naturally white with a fine marbled grain structure. It can be dyed; dyeing often brings out the grain. It is still commonly used in buttons, jewelry, and artistic carving. Many vegetable ivory buttons were decorated in a way that used the natural tagua nut colour as a contrast to the dyed surface, because the dye did not penetrate deeper than the very first layer.[1][7] This also helps identify the material.
The display of jewelry in the closed shop.
My interest was peaked by purchase of a ring.
OUR JULIA GASH TAPESTRY THROWS HAVE ARRIVED.
100 % COTTON
48″ x 60″
MADE IN USA
$75-
CHARGE CARDS ACCEPTED
ORDER YOURS TODAY OR AVAILABLE AT RIHS KIOSK STARTING ON SUNDAY
ROOSEVELTISLANDHISTORY@GMAIL.COM
EACH THROW IS NEATLY PACKAGED READY TO BE GIVEN AS A GREAT HOLIDAY PRESENT
MONDAY PHOTO
MY HAT
CREDITS
JUDITH BERDY
GHILA KRATZMAN PHOTOGRAPHY
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
www.tiktok.com/@rooseveltislandhsociety
Instagram roosevelt_island_history
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Copyright © 2022 Roosevelt Island Historical Society, All rights reserved.Our mailing address is:
rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com
Leave a comment