TO THE ARCHIVES: LAZARD CAHN LABELS

I love that microscope!  Lazard Cahn, ~1930.  Photo © courtesy of the Digital Collections at the Pikes Peak Library District.

Since moving to Colorado Springs in 2006 I have tried to remain active in the Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society (CSMS).  The Society can trace its origin to November 1936 when 13 individuals (including two females) met for the purpose of organizing a local mineralogical society.  Lazard Cahn was elected as the Permanent Honorary President; hence, the designation of such on all CSMS publications continues into the 21^st century.  I note with interest that at the initial meeting the new members spent their time examining micromounts under binocular microscopes.  Evidently the new society was the outgrowth of interest by persons studying microscopic crystals under the instruction of Mr. Cahn (twice per week at his office).  The Society was active early on and by 1939 mineral displays were exhibited in Colorado Springs through the Chamber of Commerce.  Today CSMS sponsors a summer rock, mineral and fossil show (except 2020 the pandemic year), monthly meetings, field trips and a variety of other activities.  Check out www.csms.1936.

Since Lazard Cahn is such a revered mineralogist, CSMS members enjoy locating minerals that were, at one time, in his collection, and the mineral labels that accompanied the minerals.  The big jackpot is having an original label, and the specimen.  I have about a half dozen of these jackpots and the posts are in this Blog.

I also was able to acquire several orphan labels that lack the specimens, but then needed to answer the question—how do I preserve these elements of mineral history?  Well, there is a perfect place for these labels, The Mineralogical Record.  The Mineralogical Record magazine is their best known product; however, they offer databases, bibliographies, and a host of other information products including “the Mineralogical Record Label Archive, a collection of original, printed mineral specimen labels representing mineral collections from all countries during the last two centuries. With the possible exception of some of the great museums, it is the largest such collection in the world, with over 15,000 examples cataloged, and another 15,000 to 20,000 duplicates and uncataloged examples.”  See their web site at www.mineralogicalrecord.com. 

So, I am sending 20 Cahn labels to the Archives in order to preserve them for posterity.