Description
Antique Vaseline Trade Beads in Opaque Blue
This lot of Antique Vaseline Trade Beads comes with 69 opaque Blue Vaseline Trade Beads strung on a cotton cord. It includes 28 smaller Russian Blue type beads for a total of 97 beads. The strand measure 34″ long overall. One of a Kind!
Traders call these Vaseline beads because their translucence resembles the look of the petroleum product. Craftsmen formed these Vaseline beads into large bi-conal shapes that are as eye catching as their color! Vaseline beads likely originated in Czechoslovakia.
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History of Trade Beads
From the 15th to the 20th century, traders carried European glass beads across the world. The beads were highly desired by Native Americans, as glass was then an unknown substance in North American. European glass beads, mostly from Venice, became popular and sought after by Native Americans. Europeans realized early on that beads were important to Native Americans and corporations such as the Hudson Bay Trading Company developed lucrative bead-trading markets with them.
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