So it’s Valentine’s Day. In the late 1800’s, children celebrated Valentine’s Day by going door to door, singing songs and sometimes begging for treats, such as: fruit, pennies and cakes. Folklorists and historians preserved some of the lyrics from the tunes. An example is: “Morrow, morrow, Valentine, I’ll be yourn if you’ll be mine. Please to us a Valentine”.
Around the turn of the century (1900’s), the custom of Valentine cards emerged - some very lacey, dimensional, and colorful. The cards were quite elaborate. There are collectors who will pay a pretty penny or two if you happen to find some of these old cards stored away in your attic.
Now days we usually give a gift, such as, candy, flowers, or stones/gems in various forms. Did you receive a nice sparkly stone this Valentine’s day? Perhaps a diamond or ruby? Maybe a lesser gem but still beautiful in its setting. Someone worked hard to chip at a larger stone to shape your stone into a pleasing crystalline state. Then smooth it and polish it. When you visit Heritage Village, the exhibit in the Village Store has displays of mined stones/gems in the raw. Some do sparkle as is. The rose quartz would make a lovely ring. And the purple crystal is lovely too. Best of all Quartz Crystals can be found naturally in the Central Texas area of Llano. Have you been to Llano, Texas way west of us?
Well, in the Llano river one can find topaz, quartz crystals, agate, onyx, pyrite, feldspar crystals, mica, garnet, Llanonite (only found in Llano, TX), gold fluorite, hematite, blue quartz, smoky quartz, silver, tourmaline, types of opals and many more. Best of all some of these can be seen in the raw in the Village Museum store exhibit area.
Did you know that Quartz and diamonds are both crystals? Can you tell the difference between them? They can be distinguished by using tests for hardness and cleavage. Caution! These tests will damage or destroy the crystals. Here is a tip: diamond will scratch quartz, but quartz will not scratch diamond. Furthermore, Topaz will scratch quartz but not diamond. Can you guess which crystal is harder? Right! The diamond hence the higher the cost too.
If they are all crystals, why the different colors? Are they dyed? If you find a dyed crystal, it is probably not natural but synthetic. Usually the color of the crystal is caused by impurities in the crystal. Remember the Texas crystals come from a river. Also: different chemicals captured when the crystal was created can create different colors. Amethyst for example has traces of iron built into its crystalline structure giving it a purple hue. Iron can also give crystals a yellow hue. Some colors like smoky quartz, are from the growth of imperfections in the crystals.
I do hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day whether you receive a crystal or not. A good meal at the Pickett House Restaurant will put you close to the museum store. So, take a minute, stroll over to the store and view the crystals in the exhibit room so you know what to look for on your next visit to Llano’s river. Maybe you will find a nice gift in our gift shop as well.
Can’t make in on Valentine’s Day. Check out our website at www.heritage-village-org where upcoming events are listed as well as our location and hours of operation. Contact the Village at 409-403-2025 or contact@heritage-village.org. Happy Valentine’s Day!
