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1973 - (Left and Right Pendants) hand fabricated sterling silver and gold pendants designed for the Goldsmith '74 exhibition sponsored by the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute. Winning pieces would tour the nation for four years. Another piece that we had entered into this exhibition was accepted for the tour. We do not have a photo, because it was stolen from a museum while on display. Our piece was the only one stolen. The pendant in the center was made in 1976.
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Starving Artists, Stolen Art
As with many emerging new businesses, capital to build their new enterprise was sparse. Though the Gannaways’ wholesale business was inundated with orders, any funds received for goods soon went to buy supplies to fill future orders. At that point they were collectively living on $113 a month. In order to survive, they gathered wild rice and gleaned potatoes from local fields. They were also subsidized by their wives’ creative efforts at thrift: pooling waitress tips, renting rooms to college students, and taking advantage of college assets while still a student (ie. jewelry dept. tools, library etc.) Though money was short, youthful energy and creative ambition was plentiful.
In 1973, they scraped together enough money to buy some gold with which they would make a number of gold pieces for submission to the Goldsmith ’74 exhibit sponsored by the Renwick Gallery of The Smithsonian. Only 40 of the 1200 entries would be accepted to go on a national tour. One of the Gannaways’ pieces, “Ring for a King”, was accepted into the exhibit. Unfortunately, it was stolen while on display in a museum. The Gannaways’ ring was the only item stolen in that incident. Ironically, the silver prototype of the “Ring for a King”, later sold in Astoria, was also stolen.
In 1973, the oil embargo hit the US hard. Lines at gas stations became commonplace. This was a problem for the Gannaways, because their sales rep depended on jet travel to meet with customers. Many of his flights were being canceled due to the oil shortage. Frustrated by his immobility, the sales rep quit. Tim and Jim could not absorb the financial shock of this abrupt decision. They owed $12,500 to their suppliers and had no way to pay them back. To put perspective on how much money that was, a nice four bedroom house could be bought for the amount of money that we owed at the time. They did not want to file for bankruptcy, so they tried to find jobs in order to pay back what they owed. While Tim failed to find a job, Jim and Larry found jobs on farms. Jim told Tim to use the tools and the supplies he had left in any way he could to survive the recession.
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