TUCSON GEM AND MINERAL SHOW

In the heart of mineral base country, Tucson hosts the world's most important minerals and earth sciences exposition. An international affair

Interest in all things mineral is at an all time high in Ari-zona. The number of hobby and craft shows is on the increase. Attendance at gem and mineral shows is on the rise. Queen of all the shows is the annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, now entering its twenty second year. Other shows have been around longer but none brings as much international fame and acclaim to our state. The first Tucson Gem and Mineral Show was held in the cafeteria of the Helen Keeling Elementary School. After that, the Pima County Fairgrounds served as the site for the show until the functional new Tucson Community Center became available for the 1972 Show. It has been held there ever since. What distinguishes the Tucson Show from all others and what has brought to it the accolade “Greatest Mineral Show on Earth” is the international scope and flavor of Show activities and participants. Until 1961 the Show was typical of any one of several hundred such shows held across the country each year. But, in that year important national figures from the field of mineralogy were invited to participate as speakers and exhibitors. The first such was Mr. Paul Desautels, Super-visor, Division of Mineralogy, Smithsonian Institution, Washington. That year he spoke eloquently and brought with him an amazing display of gems and an educational mineral display. Each year since that time Mr. Desautels and the Smithsonian have been major contributors to the Show. As an example, in 1972 it was hoped the Tucson Ring Meteorite might be displayed at the Show. The Ring Meteorite was found south of Tucson over one hundred years ago, was used first as

MINERAL HERITAGE FOUR STAMP BLOCK

The four-stamp block commemorating America's Mineral Heritage is a design first in U.S. stamps whereby a diamond shape is achieved by following the Postal Service's recommendation that this block of stamps be rotated 45 degrees so that the denominations appear horizontally. Romanticists will remember that placing stamps upside down is supposed to signify love. Now, perhaps, a new dimension in stamp placement has been added by the diamond motif a tribute to the importance of natural resources and their conservation in our lives.

The set of four ten-cent stamps on this Cover commemorates this heritage and features designs of minerals selected not for their scarcity or monetary value, but for two other reasons. First, all four of them Amethyst, Tourmaline, Rhodochrosite and Petrified Wood are universally recognized in lapidary (the art of cutting gems) as being typically American.

Second, they are treasured by collectors because of their aesthetic qualities and particularly admired admired for their colors, which are reproduced faithfully on the stamps.

Amethyst, deep lavender in color, is cut and polished as a semi-precious gem. Tourmaline, rose red, has optical and electrical instrument application. Coral-rose colored rhodochrosite contains manganese used in steelmaking and the chemical industry. Rainbow-hued petrified wood, predominately red and yellow, is valuable to geologists in studying the structure of trees as they existed in prehistoric times.

These minerals are found in nature in four scattered parts of our nation, ranging from the town of Due West, South Carolina (amethyst) to Arizona's Petrified Forest (petrified wood) to Colorado (rhodochrosite) and San Diego County, California (tourmaline).

Actual samples from the gems and minerals collection of the Smithsonian Institute were used as models by expert engravers of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in capturing the colorful beauty of these four distinctly American minerals on the stamps, designed by Leonard F. Buckley.

This unique set of four stamps was first placed on sale at the 1974 National Gem and Mineral Show in Lincoln, Nebraska, with first day ceremonies at the State Fair grounds.

GEMS and MINERALS from page 12

An anvil in Tucson, and finally was carted off to the Smith-sonian where it was embedded into the concrete floor of a display hall. No matter! The display was literally jack-hammered from the floor and hauled to Tucson for the 1972 Show. Such is the support this Show receives. In each successive year the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society has invited noted mineralogists from some of the world's great museums to participate. Most have willingly accepted. In addition, representatives of leading institutions in America and elsewhere have participated with enthusiasm.Beginning in 1970 the Tucson Society decided to go international, inviting Dr. Peter Embrey of the British Museum (Natural History) to speak and bring some of that famed museum's collection to Arizona. Dr. Embrey has been followed each year by other noted international mineralogists, Dr. Pierre Bariand of the University of Paris, Dr. A. Hans Stalder, Switzerland, and Dr. Ole Peterson, University of Copenhagen. This year the emphasis will shift from mineralogy to gemmology when the famed gem carving center of Idar-Oberstein, Germany will be represented by Mr. Gerhard Becker. Mr. Becker will bring a large display of hand carved gem material done in Idar-Oberstein. In addition, he will be accompanied by Erwin Pauly, fourth generation master carver of Idar-Ober-stein. Lengthy family businesses are normal there. The Becker family business has been traced to 1599. Since records of earlier date were burned nothing further can be documented but the family business doubtless extends much farther back.

The displays being brought in by Gerard Becker are breath-taking. One, called "The Last Hunt," is a large quartz crystal carved with the scene of an Indian pursuing a buffalo. The scene extends all the way around the crystal! The second exhibit is a carved quartz statue of Atlas supporting a gorgeous blue lapis lazuli globe of the world girdled with gold.

TUCSON RING -METEORITE

FOUND PRIOR TO 1851 IN A CANYON IN THE SANTA RITA MOUNTAINS. IT WAS STARTED ON A 7 YEAR JOURNEY to WASHINGTON, DC. VIA SANFRANCISCO AND THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. LOANED FOR THIS EXHIBIT BY SMITHSONIANWEIGHT 1400 lbs.

Another important foreign exhibit coming to the Tucson Show this year will be from the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada. This exhibit of Canadian minerals will be brought in by Mr. Robert Gait, of the Museum staff. He is also chairmanelect of the Mineral Museums Advisory Council. The Council's annual meeting will be held in conjunction with the Tucson Show. Host for that meeting will be the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum now vigorously pursuing construction of an Earth Science facility west of Tucson.

The attendance of eminent mineralogists and the support of international institutions is only a part of what makes the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show great. There has long been a void between the profession and the amateur hobby of mineral collecting. Events related to the Show have done a great deal to bridge that void and bring about a more harmonious spirit of cooperation. In 1970, a new organization, Friends of Mineralogy, was constituted at the Tucson Show. Noted Amateur and professional mineralogists and collectors banded together to create an organization devoted to the support of mineral education activities, preservation of minerals and mineral localities, and support of mineral related activities, including the professional magazine, Mineralogical Record.

Already mentioned is the Mineral Museums Advisory Council. This was formed at the Tucson Show in 1971. So many of the country's museum curators and staff members from museums outside this country attended the Tucson Show it was only natural that they use the show as a meeting place. The goal of this organization is to promote cooperation among member museums, continuing to aid in the development of earth science programs everywhere.

AN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR.

Professional and amateur support of the Tucson Show reached its zenith in 1974 when a joint Mineralogical Winter Meeting was held in conjunction with the Show by several Groups including the Professional Mineralogical Society of America, Friends of Mineralogy, the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society, the Mineral Museums Advisory Council, and the University of Arizona. Meetings of this joint event were held such that members of the respective organizations could attend, hearing the reading of professional papers, discuss common problems and programs, and enjoy the fruits of mutual cooperation. One final proof of the importance now attached to this annual affair at Tucson each year occurred in 1974. The U.S. Postal Service chose the Tucson Show as the event where public announcement of America's first Mineral Heritage Stamp would be made. Original plans were to release first day covers at the 1974 Tucson Show but a delay in the change in postal rates prevented this. However, the Postal Service still felt so strongly about the Show that Postmaster General Benjamin F. Bailar flew to Tucson to unveil artist's renderings of the stamps and present albums of those stamps to Show dignitaries. The stamps were later released for sale at the National Minerai Show held at Lincoln, Nebraska under the auspices of the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies.

With so many important events going on and with such a magnificent array of gems and minerals to be seen. People are attracted to Tucson the second weekend in February from all over the world. Many come and stay several weeks to enjoy the Arizona winter sun. Others dash hundreds of miles for just a few hours of show activities. The timing of the Show could not be better, coming as it does in the middle of the tourist season. Then, too, Tucson is ideally situated geographically for such a show, The Southwest Desert and Mexico combine to create one of the great gem and mineral regions of the world. Tucson itself is readily accessible as well, so all factors combine to create an ideal show situation. Attendance at the show is in the thousands each year. This includes buyers from all over the world as well as collectors, local residents, and tourists. In addition, on the first day of the show hundreds of Tucson's school children are escorted through the show free of charge for a real educational experience about gems and minerals.

Though the show is the main event it is only the apex of a frenzy of activity. There is as much going on at the nearby motels as there is at the Community Center. Meetings are being held, friends are getting together to talk about and swap minerals, and much buying and selling goes on. Dealers by the hundred who have been unable to obtain selling space at the show rent rooms at the motels and open their doors to passersby. There is more frenzied mineral buying during the days before the show than at the show itself. One group of eastern dealers, unable to get show space, lease an exhibit room at one motel and put on their own show, a satellite to the main event! Dealers from as far away as South Africa may be visited at the motels where they are set up in business for the week. The amount of revenue taken in is enormous as specimens sometimes valued in the thousands are bought and sold again and again. The same fine specimen may change hands several times in the matter of a few hours, such is the madness of the event.

As a result of such an affair, Tucson has long been recognized as the pace setter of the mineral world. Dealers save their best material for Tucson. Collectors work hard all year hoping to have a choice selection of trade stock for that weekend. Many of the major mineral finds of the last decade have been introduced at the Tucson Show were they are displayed and sold for the first time. Anyone attending the show in the last decade will well remember the magnificent yellow legrandite, orange wulfenite, and green adamite brought to the show from Mexico. Amazing specimens of bright gray galena from Missouri, gem pink tourmalines from California, and choice rare minerals from Morocco, India, Rumania, South West Africa, and elsewhere have been brought to Tucson to enrich the show, and the dealers who brought them! People most active in the gam and mineral world generally agree that the best available is to be seen at Tucson.

The recently discovered treasures of the world are only a part of what's to be seen at Tucson. Equally interesting are the many very old classic minerals and gems brought by institutions and private collectors for display. Silver specimens found over one hundred years ago have been featured. A huge forty ounce gold nugget found over one hundred years ago in California was shown last year. Some of the larger faceted gems in the world have been displayed at Tucson. There is no end to what may be displayed or offered for sale at the show. Each year brings new delights and offers more educational experiences to those who attend. The variety is endless and the beauty breathtaking. Of particular interest to show goers this year will be an amazing twenty pound turquoise nugget found at Kingman to be displayed by the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. So, displays are not only interesting but topical.

What more can I say but suggest you gather your pesos around you and head for Tucson come February and see the greatest mineral show on earth!

City, county, state and federal buildings combine with the community's commercial and cultural centers in a common composition of architectural beauty.

Tucson's active community center is the heartbeat of a new and invigorating area including the Tucson Federal Building, right, and the Tucson City Hall, below. - RAY MANLEY LEFT Actual size of the smithsonite crystal is approximately 2 cm. and it came from the Silver Bill Mine near Gleeson, Arizona. Les Presmyk Collection.

MINERAL PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEFF KURTZEMAN

RIGHT The mineral wulfenite contains the elements of lead and molybdenum, both important metals. This photo is actual size. From the Susie Davis Collection.

BELOW The white snowflake-like projections, called sixlings, are cerussite and the aqua color material is aurichalcite. This particular aluminum-copper mineral came from the 79 Mine near Hayden, Arizona. The actual size is approximately 9 cm. Wayne Darby Collection.

world and is approximately 121½ cm. long. From the David Wilber Collection.

Arizona's Hassayampa River, near the famous Vulture Mine, has yielded millions in gold. It is still panned today after heavy rains with a good prospector recovering from $10 to $100 a day when water is available. Actual size 5 cm. Jelks Collection.

BELOW La Placita is not only an area of renewal and rejuvenation for Tucson, but also for all the people who visit its spacious plazas, shops and restaurants.

MINERAL PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEFF KURTZEMAN

TUCSON PHOTOGRAPHS BY RAY MANLEY

Fine crystals of delicate native copper, just as they were found in the Ajo area, with only the calcite etched away. A piece of matrix can be seen on the left side. From the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Collection.

FEBRUARY 1975

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The quality and numbers of Tucson's hotels and resort facilities are commensurate with the increasing international awareness of the area's climatic and geographical advantages.

The blue of these eight beautiful stones is azurite and the green is malachite, both copper carbonate minerals. The black mineral is tenorite. Environmental changes cause the less chemically stable blue azurite to change to green malachite. The outside ring of stones are from Chuquicamata, Chile, while the two in the center are from Bisbee, Arizona. Actual size of stones varies from 80 to 300 ct. From the Alsup Collection. JEFF KURTZEMAN

The Arizona Medical Center

One of the state's great resources!

Beautiful buildings now rise into the sky from thirty landscaped acres in Tucson that once were used as the playing field of the University of Arizona's national champion polo team. Eight years and $35 millions spent after construction was started in 1966, Arizona now has one of the greatest institutions for health care, research and medical training in the nation. Here are the University of Arizona's basic sciences building, the 300 bed University hospital, a large clinical sciences building and some smaller buildings which house special services. In the past year 2000 patients a month have been admitted to the emergency rooms; almost that many have been given cancer therapy. And during the year over 800 babies have come into the world here, including 18 sets of twins. There are 160 staff physicians, 110 associate physicians and 200 residents to provide the newest treatments in a great range of medical and surgical fields. With all this great effort at learning and the developing of devices which contribute to it, the Arizona Medical Center is also a group of people bent on humanizing and improving patient care. As one patient remarked, "What I liked best about your hospital was that the people here not only cared for me, they cared about me."