Beginnings. Jody's Jewelry Revival

After my mother fractured her hip, she had to go to Nursing Care. Her dementia made it impossible for her to return to her assisted living apartment; we (her four children) gave them notice, rented a storage room and began the process of removing her things. I ended up with all her jewelry at my house and after sorting through her dresser jewelry box I invited family to come over and see if they could find a few pieces that they would like to have. Then, I began to sort through the rest and organize it according to type. My mother is the last of her family so she ended up with everybody's jewelry: her grandmother's, Linda Merkley; her mother's, Hester Sams; her aunt's, Wilma Campbell; her niece's, Lind Campbell. Grandma Sams and Mom both sold Avon. They usually purchased demos for each campaign to show to their clients, which explains why there are so many AVON. I purchased a book, "Identifying Avon Jewelry" by Sandra Sturdivant. I found all but a few of the AVON jewelry in the book; some jewelry is marked AVON but not in this book. I also purchased "Sarah Coventry Jewelry" by Kay Oshel, because I found the markings on a few pieces. Established in 1949, they recruited thousands of women to sell Sarah Coventry at home parties. Linda Merkley was 57 in 1949, I doubt she went to home jewelry parties. Hester Sams was 36, she's likely the one who purchased the Sarah Coventry jewelry in the collection. 

   At some point, Mom (Joanne Gray) began watching the home shopping networks HSN and QVC. HSN was launched on cable TV in 1982; QVC in 1986. Although I found markings of several designers from these channels, Jay King (HSN) became her favorite.

   In 1945, Loren and Linda purchased a homestead and moved from Sac County, Iowa to Dodge County, Minnesota about 5 miles from the village of Claremont. In 1946, their daughter Wilma and her husband Robert Campbell, sold their filling station, auto repair shop in Sac City, Iowa and moved to Claremont. They started another filling station, auto repair shop and added a variety store that Wilma managed. In 1947, Lawrence and Hester Sams joined them, renting a farmhouse on the outskirts of Claremont. Joanne Adams was a junior at Sac City High School, she did NOT want to move, she stayed with friends until the school found out she wasn't living with her parents, she was forced to move. 

   My name is Jody (Gray) Hoffmann. Joanne (Adams) Gray is my mother. Hester (Zach, Adams) Sams my grandmother. Linda (Zach) Merkley my great-grandmother. Wilma (Merkley) Campbell my great-aunt. Linda Campbell my cousin. I'm going to introduce them with pictures before I begin to add pictures of the jewelry.