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Current 50 Years Ago Page

May/June 1955 Lapidary Journal - Davy Jones' Locker. Photograph by Tom Vano. Unique gemstone diorama made by members of the San Francisco Gem & Mineral Society.

Fifty Years Ago in Lapidary Journal

Established in 1947, Lapidary Journal has been the authority on what's current in the gem and jewelry world for over half a century. The vast library of issues that have been created over the years is like a diary -- a record to what was going on in the industry at any given moment. Just as it's fun to read old entries in your personal journal, we at Lapidary Journal thought it would be a good time to begin reminiscing on topics past, to see what has changed over time and what has remained the same.

Starting with the June 1954 issue, each month we will take a look back to an issue 50 years old. If readers are interested in receiving photocopies of these or any past articles, please send us an e-mail with the subject line of "reprints."

The May/June 1955 issue was 6-1/2" x 9-3/4", unlike today's dimensions of 8-1/4" x 10-3/4". It was not until 1960 that the size changed for the first time. It was a bi-monthly magazine and the newsstand price was $0.50 per copy.

Naval Patients Learn Lapidary Craftwork
Author unknown, 1955
Revisited by Kristen L. Gibson, Editorial Intern, 2005

Convalescent Paul R. Smith, a San Diego Naval Hospital patient, is cutting a slab of moss agate under the guidance of Mrs. Thomas J. Rutkowski, a Red Cross volunteer, who helps the Navy in the hospital's program of therapy for men who are recuperating.

"This stone might make up into pretty brooches," Mrs. Thomas J. Rutkowsky, Red Cross Arts and Skills volunteer in the San Diego Naval Hospital, suggests to a convalescent sailor who is interested in lapidary work.

In the June issue of 1955, Lapidary Journal ran an article about sailors learning the lapidary art. Red Cross volunteers, in an attempt to provide therapy for recuperating Navy men, developed a hospital program to teach different arts and crafts. One such volunteer, Mrs. Thomas J. Rutkowski, taught sailors how to cut and polish stones. Mrs. Rutkowski helped the men choose and prepare stones for certain projects or jewelry designs. The entire process provided sailors with a great deal of knowledge about the lapidary art and helped them keep occupied during the long recovery. Here is the short article, in its entirety:

Seadogs in our neighboring San Diego Naval Hospital have a new hobby that is really an ancient art. In the Hobby Shop, where various crafts are taught, Mrs. Thomas J. Rutkowski, a Red Cross volunteer, is teaching the convalescent sailors how to cut and polish precious and semiprecious stones.

The craft is carried on as a joint effort at the hospital, by the Navy, the Red Cross, and the Rockhounds, one of the many recreational employee clubs at Convair (Consolidated-Vultee aircraft plant), where Mrs. Rutkowski, a former aircraft worker, learned the lapidary art.

Mrs. Rutkowski operates on a budget of less than $200 a year, but she has managed to obtain half a ton of semiprecious rocks, two diamond slabbing saws, a dry sander, and a lapidary unit for polishing.

Convair's Rockhounds supply much of the raw material, and the Navy keeps the equipment in shape. This permits the sailors to work with such stones as fire and cherry opals, tourmalines, jade, garnets, moss agate, and black obsidian. Petrified wood is also worked.

Mrs. Rutkowski is one of twenty-five Red Cross volunteer hospital workers who are aiding in diversional crafts. All are trained in Arts and Skills.

More highlights from our archives coming next month from the July/August 1955 Lapidary Journal.

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