 Walco Indian Beadcraft Kit
by Peter Francis, Jr.
In the early decades of the 20th century, the Walco Bead Co. of New York was perhaps the largest company of its kind in the USA. Located at 37 West 37th Street (where Elliot, Green & Co. is today), it was long a fixture in New York's "bead alley." A 1935 booklet noted that it imported from Paris, Venice, Gablonz (Jablonec) and Kobe.
One of Walco's marketing techniques was to produce bead kits to encourage children and adults to make projects. This phenomenon was discussed in Margaretologist 10:1 and a gallery of bead kits relating to this issue is here. When in Seattle in mid-2000 I found another Walco kit at the Freemont Street market.
 Top of eight-page instruction leaflet, dated 1935. No pretense to political correctness here. The page begins with a short history of beadwork, including porcupine quillwork and wampum. Crafters are reminded (in the midst of the Depression) that beads are cheap and "Bead-Craft is a labor of love that is compensated by worthy results." Continued
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