Venetian Beads

Interesting accounts of the manufacture of Venetian glass beads turn up in the most unlikely places. The one reproduced here was published in The Girl\u27s Own Paper for February 1, 1896 (Vol. 17, No. 840, pp. 292-294). In addition to presenting a decent description of the manufacture of drawn and blown beads during the latter part of the 19th century, Mr. Hird gives us details concerning the setting in which the beadmakers and bead stringers worked. Paint peels from the ceilings of the rooms where women make blown beads, and half-dressed men sweat in the heat from the glass furnaces. It brings the scene to life, something most other accounts fail to do. As the photographs that illustrate Hind\u27s article lack captions, these have been added by the editor