Tales from the Morgue: The beginning of the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show

1,300 Attend Mineral Show

More than 1,300 persons attended the two day gem and mineral show held at the Helen Keeling school, 435 East Glenn, this week end.

The show was sponsored by the Tucson Gem and Mineral society. Forty separate collections, containing several thousand mineral specimens, were entered.

Among the collections were a group of uranium rocks from Europe and this country, a jade collection and a display of sea shells. One merchant demonstrated how a Geiger counter operates.

Ribbons were given for various collections, with Kenneth Caudle, Michael E. Fry and E. Lawanda Hill winning the first three places in that order for grade school children.

High school winners were Gene Schlepp, Larry Meyers and Kenneth Harrison, of Deming, N. M. Adult winners were Harold Rupert, Dan Caudle, who also served as chairman of the show, and Clayton Gibson.

Uranium rocks displayed were from Arizona, New Mexico, Canada, Wyoming, Utah, New Hampshire, England, Norway, Germany and Czechoslovakia. Tourists from most of the 48 states, Canada and Mexico visited the show.

Gem, Mineral Show Scheduled

Pima County Fair Building To House Exhibit Of Local Lapidarists Saturday and Sunday

Precious and semi-precious stones will be among the items on display this weekend at the second annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Society show to be held in the Pima County Fair Building.

Doors will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

School students, lapidaries, and amateur “rock hounds: will exhibit their collections of games, minerals, and crystalized specimens, and will be competing for prize ribbons in three categories. Entries are divided into classes for minerals, lapidary, and jewelry making with two divisions of junior exhibits for youngsters from 10 to 17.

There will also be non-competitive exhibits, which will include assortments of fossils, rare minerals, and other related oddities.

Some of the more interesting exhibits which have been announced by Clayton Gibson and Dan Candle, co-chairmen of the society’s show, will include a complete dinnerware set for six made of onyx. Other items are colorful displays of fluorescent minerals, exotic collections of jade jewelry and carvings, and a display of inorganic laboratory-grown crystals.

A wide variety of uranium specimens will be shows with Geiger counters and scintillators operating to acquaint visitors with the construction of these instruments and their use in locating radio-active minerals.

Other displays include nineteenth century prospecting and assaying equipment, rough and polished birthstones for all months, and groups of crystals, tumbled stones, and mounted jewelry. Many of these items will be on sale by exhibitors.

Judges for the three classes are, for mineral specimens: Paul Howell, mineralogist with the Arizona State Bureau of Mines; Dr. Robert DuBois, professor of geology at University of Arizona, and Mrs. Monnie Speck, mineral dealer of Phoenix. Lapidary work will be judged by J. L. Jones, and S. L. Wolfson.

Robert Fordham, president of the society stressed that there is no charge to enter exhibits in the show, and no admission will be charged so that everyone interested in mineral collecting and lapidary may participate in this event.

Gem, Mineral Display Dazzling

Show At Pima County Fairground Attracts Crowds To Brilliantly Colored Collections

Multi-hued rocks and minerals, including all the colors of the rainbow, are on display at the second annual Tucson Gem and Mineral show continuing today at the Pima County Fairground building. Hundreds of visitors viewed the brilliantly colored collections yesterday, and even greater numbers are expected to attend today.

In addition to the collections of rocks, gems and minerals, there are special collections on display including arrowheads, sea shells, fossils, and “rockhound” equipment. Several dealers had myriad displays around the perimeter of the building.

Richard Bideaux, 2521 E. 8th St., was sweepstakes winner, and also had two first prize collections. He is a junior at the University of Arizona where he is majoring in geological engineering. Bideaux was one of the winners in the 1952 Westinghouse science talent search, and received a $400 scholarship. He is also a member of the Mineralogical Society of Arizona.

The Dan Candles made the gem show a family affair, with father, mother and son all winning prize ribbons in their respective classifications.

Officers of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society expressed regret that there were not more entries in the lapidary and jewelry making classes, and that there were not more entries in the junior division. They urged all specimen collectors to come to the exhibit and acquaint themselves with future competitions.

Winners in the various classifications were:

Class 1, Minerals: Div. 1, cabinet specimens, all different: Richard Bideaux, first; Dick Welch, second; and Harold Rupert, third.

Div. 2, cabinet specimens, all one mineral: Bideaux, first; William C. Schussler, second.

Div. 3, cabinet specimens, from one location: Clayton Gibson, first; Monte Nichols, second; John Walker, third.

Div. 4, miniature specimens: Dan Caudle, first: Richard Bideaux, second; Guil and Mary Dudley, third.

Div. 5, thumbnail specimens: Guil and Mary Dudley, first; Betty Caudle, second.

In the junior division, for children from 10 to 14 years of age, first-place winners were: Div. 1, Kenneth Caudle; Div. 5, Wanda Hill.

In the junior division, for children 15 to 17 years of age, fist-place winners were:

Div. 1, Gene Schleppe; Div. 2, Lloyd Picker; Div. 3, Larry Meyer.

There was only one entry in Class II, Lapidary. A first-place ribbon went to Burl Ott. There were no entries in Class III, Jewelry Making.