 |
| 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 21st 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.
