1950’s White Jellyfish Fight Necklace

1950’s White Jellyfish Fight

Necklace

When I was a kid in the 1950s August was jellyfish month. That was when white and red jellyfish would wash in everyday on the incoming tide. For us guys it was a perfect opportunity to have jellyfish fights. Waist deep in water out among the waves we would toss, throw and heave jellyfish at one another.

We had rules, only white jellyfish, never touch a red, never ever throw a red. On occasion slip a white one down an unsuspecting guy’s bathing suit. It was great fun and some of the highest spirited moments of summer. We all knew the rules white was fair game, until Diane from Connecticut showed up. She hadn’t gotten the memo.

Whites floating in the incoming tide were 10 to 1 over reds, reds were rare. She started off with whites. Tossed like the rest of us. She held her ground. Then she picked up a red, tossed it and it stung. She found another red by chance and gave it a heave too. We cried foul, called her on it. No reds! No reds! She kept it up and we scattered. After the competition we explained the rules. She had noticed her hands stinging too.

This particular type of jellyfish is a Portuguese man-of-war. It’s serious in any color with all the tentacles. Our Maine jellyfish were a smaller, gentler variety. This man-of-war design is kinetically active, alive with three crystal bead tentacles, two silver bead tentacles and four long swirly silver tentacles. This is a dangerous jellyfish.

Wear it and you mark your territory. Wear it and you draw the line. Wear this and you win the competition. Top dog. Dangerous lady. It says boundaries and edges it says serious rules and keep your distance. I think this is the single most menacing piece of jewelry we have ever presented. Wear it and you’re likely to feel a power you’ve never felt before. Its energy makes a statement. Says something about you, that words may never quite convey. Think about what you’re going to wear when you put this on. Think about where you are going to go when you wear this, compliments maybe, conversation starter absolutely. This piece is powerful. Be warned. It’s part of our Cross America “Girls…Gutsy, Bold, & Brave” collection. Portuguese man-of-war jellyfish carved from Indonesian cow bone.

The Portuguese man-of-war jellyfish necklace gets attention, add the earrings to complete the look for any coastal gathering you may attend.

Jellyfish Ghosting

Our family has a summer cottage on a white sand beach in Maine. We have a wood and granite dock. In the olden days, we had a sailboat and motor boats tied to the dock. Nowadays, it’s just three kayaks and a rowboat. When I make special trips to the beach, I often time them for a rising tide because our dock and boats are the on ramp to the open ocean. I’ve always known how awesome it is to have my own ramp to the Atlantic Ocean.

One day last summer while out rowing, I stopped dead in the middle of the bay. There were hundreds of jellyfish surrounding the boat. Little white tea cup saucers, all diaphanous white pulsing in slow motion, ghosting their way through the water, little waves of frosted white living crystals pulsing in the tide. I pulled the oars in, leaned on the gunnel and drifted beneath the August sun. I’d seen jellyfish before, but never like this. Our bay had tens of thousands. It was pure magic.