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Friday, February 22, 2013

Did I Tell You About The . . .





A fundraising event to benefit the
Hackley Library in Muskegon Michigan.

 Jack and I attended this event a few weeks ago. 
There were over one thousand pieces of
costume, vintage and precious jewelry
 which were donated for the fund raiser.
 
Visitors to the
Bling Thing
were able to view the jewelry
and make their purchases. 
 
Pieces varied in price from two to twenty five dollars, 
with some precious pieces a bit more.
 Scarves and evening bags were also available for sale. 

 


The event took place at the
Muskegon Century Club
which was built in 1891.
  This historic Muskegon building was restored in 2007.

It was a private club during its time
and I remember in the eighties
being invited for dinner at the club. 
Very lovely, private, exquisite.

The
Century Club
today, holds boutique shops
and a lovely third floor ballroom
where the Bling Event was held.

In addition to the fund raising event
there was a special featured event of
selected pieces from

  Kirk Hoofman's
costume jewelry collection

MMG Jewelry Display 3.jpg

The above photo and the next two photos
are from an mlive article that told about Kirk's 
"Bling: History of Costume Jewelry."
event which was held at the Tri-Cities Historical Museum
in Grand Haven, Michigan this past year. 

MMG Jewelry Display 14.jpg

MMG Jewelry Display4 .jpg

Hoofman's personal collection of over 3000 pieces
dates back to the 1920's, with the majority of his pieces
being from the 40's, 50's, 60's.

An amazing, beautiful, gorgeous collection indeed.
 I talked with him during the event
and asked him if he would mind if I took some pictures.
I took the following photos at this event,

A few days later we spoke in length and
I learned more about his collection.



Kirk's mother sold
Sarah Coventry and Judy Lee jewelry
when Kirk was a child.
It seems his interest in
glitz and glitter
grew naturally from that time. 


 
He mentioned to me about finding
 a pair of blue rhinestone earrings ,
 "for maybe twenty five cents"
at a church bazaar
when he was five years old.

Although a Czechoslovakian necklace
 he bought for one dollar at a
Ravenna Michigan Flea Market
he credits as his first "real piece" he purchased.
He calls the Czech piece his
"Hope Diamond."


 
Some of the outstanding designers
he has included in his collection are
Haskel, Trifari, Weiss, Kramer, Winston,
Juliana, Vendome, Hobe, Ciner, KJL and Eisenburg.



Kirk calls himself a frugal collector. 



The most he ever spent on a piece was a Larry Velba for $500.
He said he knew at the time it was worth $1,000.
He has no idea how much his entire collection is really worth. 


He keeps his pieces clean by gingerly wiping them with a damp cloth.  
Stating, "Rhinestones should never get wet because the water will turn them dark." 

 
 
He has scaled back
collecting his costume jewelry of late
as he has developed many new
collecting interests.

it has been a delight to
get to know you Kirk.

Thank you for
sharing
these beautiful treasures of

 
 
* * *
 

18 comments:

Jane and Lance Hattatt said...

Hello Lynne:
What a splendid idea - a Bling Sale - and such enormous fun we suspect. The building in which it was held is truly a magnificent example of C19 architecture.

But what an amazing and very wonderful collection Kirk Hoofman has amassed over time. Clearly some superb pieces. How very lucky for you to be able to meet him personally and to talk about his collection with him.

eileeninmd said...

Wow, Kirk has an amazing jewelery collection. The Bling show looks like fun. It is very nice that you were able to meet Kirk and learn so much about his collection. I loved seeing all the pretty pieces! Lovely post, Lynne! Hope you have a great weekend!

Musings from Kim K. said...

Gorgeous collection. What a fun event! My grandmother had quite the costume jewelry collection. I remember sitting on her bed and pouring through her jewelry box with her.

Jill said...

What a great diea for a fundraisier! Kirk sure has a beautiful collection!

At Home in English Valley said...

Wow Lynne, What a great post. This is a unique event, I've never heard of anything like this. I am the keeper of the brooches, my Mom collected them, and I still have many. Some were just gaudy, others sweet. Their beauty to me is that Mom liked them, now so do I! Love, Penny

Lisa Sall - Sall's Country Life said...

Wow, that looks like a sparkling fun time!! His collection is awesome. Makes me wish I had all of my Grand-Mother's costume pieces. Isn't it fascinating that women of the 1920's were content with beautiful costume jewelry and now-a-days they have to have million dollar diamonds. I love this idea as a fund raiser event!!

Heather said...

Wow... lovely... what a treat to see... I have a few pieces of costume jewelry but not of any value... it's funny how the sparkle of jewelry such as this just makes you smile! Cheers~

TexWisGirl said...

pretty neat! i have a few pieces from my late mother-in-law. many are antiques and some are from asia and spain (where they lived).

This N That said...

Was he actually selling any o his collection?? It's gorgeous..What a wonderful collection and such fun to see. Nice that you got to speak with him personally.

Pamela Gordon said...

What a fascinating collection! It would be a very fun exhibit to see. What girl doesn't like some bling even if it's just to look at.

RURAL said...

I love the idea of being able to ooooh and ahhhh at all that bling.

What a great fun that must have been.

Jen

Raindrops and Daisies said...

Wow that jewellery is just magnificent.

I would love to have been there.

Have a great weekend.

Fiona

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Nancy said...

A fun post Lynne! How neat that would be to browse these sparkly gems. :)

Gail said...

Wow, I love the history of the pieces.

koralee said...

Wow...such beauty... and I agree..this is a great idea. Thanks for sharing...hugs for a great weekend.

Thistle Cove Farm said...

I didn't know about rhinestones; I've got a pair of shoe pins that are beautiful and vintage so will only wear them on sunny days. The building is beautiful.

Anonymous said...

That is a real blink, bling show and tell and to buy.Right?

Being the age that I am.

I have the old vintage pices and even have my necklace my Mom bought me at 21 Birthday. Diamonds. That was the deal when you turned 21.
Moms bought that when they turned 21 for daughters.
Now soon my Granddaughters will be 21.

They are beautiful my two Granddaughters but they dont wear

jewelry persay on the necks. They wear all the other glamour, braclets. My daughter was like that and now I never see her with out it since 19 and she is 46.