History of Black Hills Gold

Black Hills

 Black Hills gold jewelry is a piece of handcrafted heirloom jewelry distinguishable by its tri-colored gold leaves, grapevine and flower accents.

The history of Black Hills Gold started in 1874. A group of 1000 men were led by George Armstrong Custer into the Black Hills area in search of gold. As they found a small quantities of gold near present day Custer, South Dakota, the great Black Hills Gold Rush began.

 Discovery of gold in Deadwood and Whitewood Creeks in the northern Black Hills, resulted in increased White settlement in the region. The city of Deadwood, a historic mining town was also home to S.T Butler, who is known as the father of Black Hills Gold Jewelry. Using torch for soldering and handmade punches, S.T Butler created the traditional Black Hills Gold design using red, green and yellow gold. For two generations, Black Hills Gold was run as a retail business with the local scope. F.L. Thorpe, grandson of S.T. Butler, expanded the manufacturing and distribution of Black Hills Gold Jewelry. Hundreds of designs were introduced with the basic motif of grape and leaf design with the tricolor gold. Thorpe, along with a partner E.O Lampinen formed F.L. Thorpe Company. Later, when partnership was dissolved, F.L. Thorpe Company continued business while Lampinen started a separate shop in Deadwood.

In mid 1900s, Black Hills Gold manufacturing moved from Deadwood to Rapid City, when Ivan Landstrom bought Black Hills Jewelry Manufacturing from Lampinen and started manufacturing Landstrom's Original Black Hills Gold Creations.

In 1940's a lady named Clara Arnold owned and operated her own manufacturing plant in Rapid City. Later, her company was bought by the Stamper family in 1959, and it has since operated under the name Stamper Jewelry Inc.

According to a federal ruling in 1980s, the design of jewelry with tri-color grape leaves and grape clusters must be manufactured in the Black Hills of South Dakota in order to carry the name "Black Hills Gold Jewelry." Few other companies also started manufacturing Black Hills Gold including Coleman, South Dakota Gold and Mount Rushmore.In 1995, Landstrom purchased F.L Thorpe company, and has continued to manufacture Thorpe designs, in addition to expanding to newer styles.

Today, Black Hills Gold jewelry are made in modern and contemporary designs though focus remains on tricolor grape leaves and grape bunches with detailed accents making it a specialized and unique jewelry.

Welcome!

Welcome to the premier blog spot of Black Hills Gold jewelry! This blog will cover a wide array of topics specifically related to Black Hills gold - history, trends and fashions in jewelry, social and cultural shifts related to jewelry in general and the like.

First,  a few things about myself. As a female member of the Homo Sapiens species, it is natural that I am attracted to jewelry and get excited seeing new designs and creative innovations, but my attraction goes beyond simply seeing, admiring and wearing jewelry. I am not only drawn towards jewelry of all forms, fashions and prices but also like to look at the anthropological roots of jewelry and the place that it has occupied in social relations, culture and human development.

The classic dictionary definition of jewelry would simply be -  objects of precious metal often set with gems and worn for personal adornment. However, the significance goes beyond just that. There is a social and cultural relevance, one of position and prestige in the society as well as conveying a message discreet or indiscreetly about the person wearing the jewelry.

In this blog, I will focus on my passion - which is Black Hills Gold jewelry. This particularly interests me not only because of the unique nature and design of Black Hills Gold type of jewelry, but there is a certain mystery, mystique and history behind this that is absolutely exciting. This is now part of folklore as well as modern American history, one of several that formed and shaped this great nation.

I welcome you to join and follow my blog as well as would be interested in any comments of your own that would enrich this discussion. Enjoy and talk to you sometime on the Web!!