If you love jewelry with semi precious stones, let us introduce you to the unakite pendant in this week’s fresh to market vintage. Although ukalite is commonly used for artisan jewelry, it’s not a name that immediately springs to mind like amethyst or citrine. Let’s get to know it a little better with a few facts:
- it was discovered in the Unaka Range of the Great Smoky Mountains in 1874
- it’s Virginia’s unofficial state rock
- it’s a type of granite, which makes it a rock, not a mineral
- the crystal healing community associates it with the heart chakra, encouraging emotional balance and personal growth
- it’s best used in pendants, brooches and earrings because of its composition. The quartz is rock hard, but the feldspar and epidote can cleave, making it less than optimal for rings.
- it was used to build the front steps and the South Entrance landing at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Unakite is a stone so pretty you can find it in a pendant, but also as the front steps of one of the Smithsonian buildings. That’s a versatile stone.
Now that we’ve indulged in a little petrology (the study of rocks), it’s time to get rolling on the rest of this week’s fresh to market vintage.
Red Wing Butter Crock, Marked, c. 1900s
This is a nice example of a Red Wing butter crock embellished with a spongeware design. The iconic Red Wing Stoneware company opened in Red Wing MN in 1877. Pottery and stoneware were produced by the company under a number of names, including Minnesota Stoneware (1880- 1906), North Star Stoneware (1892 – 1896), Rumrill Pottery (1933 – 1937), Red Wing Dinnerware (1935 – 1967), and Red Wing Pottery (1967 -1996). The last owners sold pottery from a single retail storefront in Red Wing until the doors closed in 2013. In a sad sign of the times, the closure of the 142-year-old company was announced on Facebook.
Red Wing Butter Crock, Spatterware Pattern, $65
Linda, Selective Salvage
Unakite Pendant Necklace
The pink and green colors of Unakite appeal to folks looking for semi precious colorful gemstone jewelry with a more natural earthy look. It’s a combination created by nature of three different types of rock, orthoclase feldspar (pink), epidote (yellow/green), and quartz (smokey or clear). This polished oval cabochon is set on a silver tone stamped filigree frame and hung from a silver tone Cardano chain. Most likely made in the 1990s or early 2000s.
Unakite Pendant Necklace, $28.95
Pam, Vintage Renude
1960s JC Penney Boat Shoes
Finding a pair of still new late 60s – early 70s canvas boat shoes in the original Penneys box was pretty exciting. These canvas kicks are a boys size 5 1/2 which translates roughly to a women’s 7. Alas, I would have looked like one of Cinderella’s evil stepsisters trying to get my paddles into them. But somewhere, there is someone who will slip her foot in and wear them like the queen she is.
1960s NOS Penneys Canvas Boat Shoes in Loden Green, $50.
Laurie, NextStage Vintage
Heatwave Too Hot To Handle LP 1977
If you listened to the radio in 1977, you heard the funk band Heatwave’s hits Boogie Nights and Always and Forever. They were among the songs that propelled the disco era into full bloom. We know the songs, but we did not know the history of the band. If someone was wrote a similar story as fiction, their editors would call them out for too much tragedy.
Heatwave was founded in 1974 by an American, Johnny Walker Jr., who was a service member stationed in Germany along with his brother Keith. Once out of the service, Johnny moved to England and put an ad in the paper seeking band members. Songwriter and keyboard player Rod Temperton answered the ad. Things started coming together when Keith flew over from their Ohio home to sing vocals.
The band played the London club scene, originally mostly doing covers. Temperton had a deep stash of his own songs, which the band started performing. Those songs got them spotted and signed to GTO records, which added studio musicians to round out the sound.
Heatwave started working on Too Hot to Handle in 1976. Their guitar player was murdered before the album come out. Too Hot to Handle was a hit, and was followed by a second album, Central Heating, in 1978. The bass player was stabbed by his girlfriend in 1979, and survived, but was paralyzed. Rod Temperton left the band in 1978 to focus on his songwriting, but continued to write songs for them until 1982. In 1980, Johnny Walker Jr. was paralyzed in a car crash. He continued working with the band on recordings and also performed live occasionally. Heatwave continues to tour, although all the founding members have passed away.
Rod Temperton went on to write songs for George Benson, Rufus and Chaka Kahn, the Brothers Johnson and Donna Summer. Before those artists, he was recruited by Quincy Jones to work on Michael Jackson’s first solo release, Off the Wall, contributing three songs including the title track and Rock with You. Temperton also worked on Thriller, adding the title track and two other songs. Yes, Rod Temperton is the man who wrote Vincent Price’s script for Thriller.
Heatwave’s songs are vibe-alicious funk–music you have to dance to. Having their album on vinyl would be accurate to the era and well worth it.
Vintage Heatwave Debut Album, T00 Hot to Handle, 1977, $17.99
Available from this week’s guest, KD Exchange
You know…if you happen to have size 7 feet and you like vintage green deck shoes, the unakite pendant pairs with them well. You can build a smashing vintage outfit starting with the accessories first. It would flex your creativity, since the normal order is to choose an outfit first and select the accessories second. The more you flex your creativity, the stronger it gets. It’s a well known fact.
One thing you don’t have to be creative about is remembering to check in on our blog. There’s an easy way to do that by signing up for an email subscription. You get one email a week with links to all our posts. And rest assured, we would rather sit through a five hour Milli Vanilli tribute band concert than ever share your info.
