Okay okay. Here’s how it went… pretty much. Hey… Benjamin.
Challenge us why don’t you? Get off this easy guessing stuff. We’re
smart, you know. We’ve been around. Give us a hard one. We’re up to
it pal. No worries… okay?
So… I feel… if you feel that way… let’s see what you can do
with the man who made bunnies. Shall we commence?
It’s the turn of the century. There’s a Jewelry Salesman out there
working for Marcus. Let’s call him–quaintly enough–JS. JS is John
D. Rockefeller’s jewelry man. JD clearly likes JS. He tells JS that
if he starts his own business… he will buy most of his jewelry from
him. Not only that… but he will tell friends and family to do the
same. And so… in 1922… JS opens his New York City upstairs
boutique away from the maddening noise… equipped with a ready-made
top of the line clientele list.
And they bought and they bought. JS had a clean line of Art Deco
jewelry. He had integrity. He had discretion. He knew jewelry. It was
Prohibition. Everyone was spending their spare time in speakeasies.
So JS made Bunny Waiter Brooches carrying trays of drinks. It was his
little protest statement. They were gorgeous. One wore red ruby pants
with a diamond jacket with emerald lapels and cuffs. Sapphires
trimmed a napkin he was holding. Triangular diamonds formed the
champagne glasses.
JS had great rapport with his clientele. He made little house
brooches that were replicas of their homes. These home brooches were
stunning and intricate and reflected for the buyer his level of
wealth for the world to see. How many people do you know that can
wear their house on their breasts. Their hearts maybe… but their
houses?.. JS retired in 1958 and turned his business over to Robert
Gibson who was succeeded in turn by his son Robert Gibson, Jr. And
the archive of designs grew.
And those in the know knew who he was. Do you? As an addendum … a
slight treat if you will… a little teaser just to show you I can
stump you whenever the mood strikes me… I pose this last question
which has nothing to do with jewelry… but will hopefully inspire
you to send me two sets of answers. The first question is–of
course–who is JS? And the second question is as follows: In a deck
of cards there are four Kings. Each King represents a great monarch
from history. Who are they? And with what suit are they each
represented? No using Google. That would be cheating. And we don’t
cheat… do we?
Und dat iss dat.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Current Tidbits… and then click on it in order to view a Bunny
Waiter Brooch with diamonds and precious gems. No value given.
And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark