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Calendar
of Events
January - March 2010
Download
a PDF of the Winter Newsletter HERE
Download
our Educational Brochure
(You
must have Acrobat Reader for these documents)
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Every
Sunday Afternoon
“ The Jeweled Art Creations
of Sidney Mobell”
PBS documentary features the life of Sidney Mobell
and his jeweled creations.
DVD – 2 p.m. - 30 minutes – begins
October 10.
Regular Museum Admission
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Special
Exhibit “Jeweled Objects of Desire”
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 October 6, 2009 to January 3, 2010
From the gem collection of the Smithsonian Institution National
Museum of Natural History the exhibit features ordinary objects
made into extraordinary jeweled art objects. Included in
the exhibit are pieces created by San Francisco jewelry designer,
Sidney Mobell, famous for his jewel-encrusted Chess Set,
trashcan and gold mousetrap with a diamond wedge of cheese.
General Museum Hours & Admission
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Gift
Shop Annual Holiday Sale
November 20 to December 6, 2009
Museum Members receive a 20% discount on all purchases.
Museum Gift Shop
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December
5 “Create A Gem Tree”
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Back by popular demand lapidaries Bill and Lois Zima of
the DesPlaines Valley Geological Society teach how to
create a small tree using gemstones and wire. These beautiful
trees never need water and make a great gift. All materials
are included.
Activity – Ages 9 yrs. to Adult - 1 p.m.
to 3 p.m.
Fee: $20.00 per person, Museum Members $15.00
Reservations Required: (630) 833-1616
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December
19 “Nature’s Doll House Miniatures”
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Miniaturist, Edie Rodriguez teaches participants how to create
accessory items for a doll house. Create unique arrangements
including plants, fruit bowls, flower vases and more using
stone, shell, wire and other materials. Take home 4 miniature
creations. All materials are provided.
Activity – Ages 10 years to Adult – 1
p.m. to 3 p.m.
Fee: $20.00 per person, Museum Members $15.00
Reservations Required: (630) 833-1616
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Special
Exhibit "Jeweled Objects of Desire"
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October 6 2009 to January 3, 2010
This special exhibit features objects from the gem collection of the Smithsonian
National Museum of Natural History. Of particular interest are the pieces created
by San Francisco jewelry designer, Sidney Mobell, who re-imagined everyday
objects into gold and gems. This exhibit is supported in part by the City of
Elmhurst Community Grant Program and The Illinois Arts Council.
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Sidney
Mobell: Making the Ordinary Extravagant
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Sidney
Mobell designed hundreds of objects during his 30 year
reign at his store in San Francisco’s Fairmont
Hotel. He was known as the go-to jeweler for rich people
wanting something more than the run-of-the-mill tennis
bracelet. Mobell has sold those, of course, along with
status watches and conventional rings, necklaces and brooches.
But his claims to fame have been the quirky, glamorous
interpretations of the everyday.
Retired
now, Mobell, 83, donated 19 of his ordinary-turned-extraordinary
objects to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural
History in Washington, D.C. in 2003. The Smithsonian has
loaned a selection of these objects to their Museum Affiliates
in Florida, Kentucky and now the Lizzadro Museum in Elmhurst.
 Shimmering in glass cases is the unlikely stuff of high-end
luxury: a sardine can, mobile phone, fishing reel, mailbox,
garbage pail, mousetrap and pacifier. All are wrought in
precious metals and set with gemstones. All but the sardines
are fully functional.
Mobell
has a story for each one. “I was in the supermarket
one day with my wife, Ronni. I don’t like sardines,” he
said, “but I picked up a can. I got home and opened
it with that little key. The next day I took it in and
gave it to my shop to make
in 18k gold . . . My wife thought
I was crazy.”
Every
year, Mobell introduced a new item, either one-of a-kind
or in very small editions, to create buzz for his
store. Sometimes he sold them, often not. But that didn’t
matter. More and more clients commissioned special pieces,
like the surgeon’s wife who had Mobell monogram her
husband’s name in diamonds on a pair of surgical
scissors. Or the woman who wanted her gallstones preserved
in a pendant.
His profile rose when Herb Caen, the legendary columnist
for the San Francisco chronicle, wrote about his creative
designs and the story was picked up by the national news
media.
 A
charming raconteur, Mobell made annual appearances on
Johnny Carson’s “Tonight” show, bringing
his expensive gadgets with him. He says that when he brought
a stunning gold mousetrap with its diamond wedge of cheese,
Carson held it up and quipped “This would even catch
Zsa Zsa Gabor.”
He
made five of those mousetraps and sold all but the one
in this exhibition. “My wife still thought I
was crazy,” Mobell says.
One
of Mobell’s masterpieces is a chess set featuring
32 handcrafted pieces in sterling silver and gold, encrusted
with nearly 3,000 cut gems including diamonds, rubies,
sapphires and emeralds. The pieces stand 3 to 3.5 inches
high on a green and white marble chessboard. The Chess
Set has not been on display for several years and will
be included in this exhibition.
He also designed functional hourglass cufflinks, containing
cut diamonds, not chips, that he frequently wears. Mobell
says the late Paul Harvey took an interest in his hourglass
design and commissioned a bolo tie for himself and matching
earrings and pendant for his wife. Hourglass pendants and
other intriguing wearable oddities designed by Mobell will
be available during the Museum’s silent auction fundraiser
on November 7.
Mobell,
the classic American success story, says he wanted to
give something back to America. He made the donation
to the Smithsonian after his wife Ronni passed away. Jeff
Post, curator of the Smithsonian’s Gem Collection
says “Sidney has made important contributions to
the evolution of jeweled art, and this collection provides
a snapshot of American popular culture, a gem studded retrospective
of the past three decades.”
The “Jeweled Objects of Desire” exhibit features
10 of Mobell’s creations along with other jeweled
and unusual objects from the vaults of the Smithsonian.
A public reception and book signing will be held for Sidney
Mobell at the Museum on Sunday, November 8 at 2 p.m. Reservations
a re recommended.
Excerpts
for this article are taken from “Midas
Touches the Mundane” by Lennie Bennet, published
May 30, 2006 in the St. Petersburg Times.
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Every Sunday Afternoon
“Rockhounds: The Movie”
Explores the United States for rockhounding activities such as mineral collecting
and uncovering fossils including geology experiments.
Geared for ages 6 yrs.
to adult.
DVD – 3 p.m. - 60 minutes
January 10 thru March 28.
Note: This movie will not be shown on March 7.
Regular Museum Admission
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Chase away the winter blahs and participate in dinosaur related activities for
all age levels. Activities include assembling large wooden dinosaur skeletons,
excavating bones and assembling them, dinosaur floor puzzles and other games.
Activities - Ages 5 yrs. to Adult
Estimated time for each activity - 10 to 60 min.
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Regular Museum Admission
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January
23 “Beadstringing & Knotting Class”
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Nancy Knight, owner of Blue Frog Beads in Villa Park, will
teach beading design and knotting. Take home a finished
piece made of stone beads. All materials are provided.
A great way to learn how to repair your broken beaded necklaces.
Activity – Ages 12 yrs. to Adult
75 minutes – 2 p.m.
Fee: $25.00 per person, Museum Members $20.00
Reservations Required: (630) 833-1616
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February
6 “Rock & Mineral Identification”
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Learn how to make a basic mineral test kit. Hands on identification procedures
include observation skills and hardness tests. All materials are provided.
Activity – Ages
8 yrs. to Adult
75 minutes - 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
Admission: $5.00 per person, Museum Members $3.00.
Reservations Required: (630) 833-1616
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February
20 “Dinosaur Discoveries”
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Children
become dinosaur detectives with“ Paleontologist
Illinois Bones” to learn about the world of dinosaurs.
Fossils and props are used to create an awareness of
the dinosaurs special characteristics. Live animals show
how dinosaurs are related to animals living today.
Interactive Lecture - Ages 4 yrs. to Adult
50 minutes - 2:00 p.m.
Admission: $4 per person, Museum Members $2.
Reservations Recommended
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March
7 “Staglieno – The Art of the Marble
Carver”
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Sculptor Walter Arnold presents his new book and lecture
on the hidden sculptural treasures of Camposanto
di Staglieno in Genoa, Italy. Walter leads us
on a virtual
tour of this monumental cemetery revealing some of the finest examples of mid-19th
to early 20th century marble carving. Learn about the tools and techniques
the marble carvers used to transform massive
blocks of stone into some of the world’s
most dramatic and symbolic memorials.
Lecture & Book Signing – Teenage to
Adult
60 minutes – 2:00 p.m.
Regular Museum Admission
Reservations Recommended
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March
20 "From Chic to Common: Birthstone Lore"
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Kathy Kamal, metalsmith artist and professor of Jewelry Design at the College
of DuPage, presents the history of the Birthstone system. Learn what gems are
considered Birthstones and what social value humans have placed on them through
the ages. Gain a deeper appreciation for what gems mean to our human story.
Lecture – Teenage to Adult – 60 minutes – 2:00 p.m.
Regular Museum Admission
Reservations Recommended
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When
Your Child Asks: Who Was Ziggy?
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When Your Child Asks: Who Was Ziggy?
From the Archives: Ziggy At the Museum
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Diorama
of Ziggy at the Museum features his remodeled 1972
home at Brookfield Zoo. |
Our Ziggy is unique among our many hard stone carved animals.
All of the other animals are, of course, rather nameless
anonymous beasts. Not so with Ziggy.
Not only does he obviously possess a name but he also possesses a most fascinating
history. We felt it would be appropriate to delve into part of the story of the
real Ziggy’s life. The Brookfield Zoo personnel were most cooperative
in furnishing literature about the elephant.
First, let’s mention some big statistics. Ziggy weighed about 13,000
pounds, stood about 10 feet tall, and lived to be 58 years old. In 1975,
the year of his death, he was the largest and oldest male elephant in captivity.
Incidentally, he was an Indian elephant, which means that he had small ears
and relatively smooth skin as opposed to the corresponding features in the
African elephant.
“Herman,” (that was his name at the time), started his public
career with the Ringling Bros. Circus. In an impulsive act, Florenz Ziegfeld
of the Ziegfeld Follies, purchased Herman, then two years old, to be presented
to his young daughter as a birthday gift. In one of the rare elephant taxi-cab
rides in history, the young 200 pound animal was actually transported by taxi
to the Ziegfeld estate on Long Island. Needless to say, the gift did not work
out well. After all, who needs an elephant around the house? The elephant was
ultimately sold back to the Ringling Bros., a bit bigger, a bit heavier, and
bearing his new name “Ziegfeld.” With time the name was affectionately
abbreviated to the familiar “Ziggy.”
For the next 16 years, Ziggy enjoyed an illustrious career as a circus
performer with both Ringling Bros. and Singer’s Midget Circus. Ziggy at that time
was very good natured and quite talented. He would dance on command of his
trainer and allegedly could play “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby” on
a harmonica. Perhaps the harmonica playing was more ballyhoo than fact. Ziggy
remained good natured throughout his circus career, but with time became
mischievously rambunctious, culminating with bolting from the circus and
spending the night
in a San Diego public park. His circus career was ended and Ziggy was destined
to the more controlled confines of zoo life from then on.
Ziggy’s first five years at the Brookfield Zoo were a delight to all
concerned. Ziggy and his keeper developed a mutual respect and affection for
each other and zoo visitors were delighted from time to time with the elephant’s
impromptu circus routines.
This relaxed state of affairs came to an explosive conclusion on April 26,
1941. On that date Ziggy suddenly turned on his keeper, tossed him across
the yard, tried to gore him several times and finally almost succeeded in
an attempt
to crush his keeper into the ground. The keeper was saved, only by a quirk,
when Ziggy’s unusually long tusks embedded in the ground thus preventing
the elephant from bringing his weight down onto the pinned keeper. After this
incident, Ziggy’s freedom was substantially curtailed. For the next
30 years he was confined to his inner enclosure and a chain was affixed to
his
left foreleg. A short chain was used during the day to protect overzealous
visitors. In the evening the chain was lengthened to afford freedom of the
entire enclosure. With the completion of the renovation at the zoo, with
its built-in safety features, the chain was removed in 1972, leaving only
a cosmetic
chain anklet.
Any concern that Ziggy was merely a provincial phenomenon was dispelled when
he tumbled into his moat. The numerous letters of concern and condolence
came from all over the country, even beyond our borders. Ziggy, of course,
survived
the long ordeal in the moat. After much apprehension, some engineering and
some ingenuity, he was retrieved quite intact. He did lose another part of
his tusk, and his keeper sensed that he had become somewhat more docile after
his fall. His appetite apparently was not hurt since he still consumed six
40 pound bales of hay each day, plus a couple of handfuls of goodies such
as apples, carrots, and the zoo’s home hydroponic vegetation. He also
consumed about twelve trunkfuls of water per day. His keeper estimated a
trunkful at
about four gallons.
Ziggy never fully recovered from his fall and died 7 months later. His bones
were donated to the Field Museum of Natural History and remain in storage.
The permanent exhibit diorama of Ziggy at the Lizzadro Museum was installed
shortly before Ziggy’s death. The diorama is a miniture model of Ziggy’s
1972 Brookfield Zoo home and features a replica of Ziggy carved from sheen
obsidian in Idar-Oberstien, Germany. The tusks are carved from a piece of Ziggy’s
ivory tusk that broke when he fell in the moat. In addition to the certain
enjoyment the diorama brings to our young visitors, and to the young at heart,
and to the lapidary enthusiasts, it will serve, in perpetuity, as a tribute
to a great beast. So next time you visit the Museum say “Hello” to
Ziggy. ?
This revised article was originally written by Horace Greene in 1975 for
the Lizzadro Museum publication Fall-Winter 1975-76. For more interesting
tidbits on Ziggy log on to RoadsideAmerica.com Pet Cemetery or Wikapedia: Ziggy
the
elephant or read “Ziggy: The World’s Greatest Elephant” by
Tom Hollatz, 1995.
In Memoriam
Judy Greene passed away in July 2009. Judy was the Museum’s secretary
since its inception in 1962 until 1985 when she and her husband “Greene” (Horace)
retired to Las Vegas. “Greene” was a science teacher at York High
School in Elmhurst and would often help out at the Museum. “Greene” helped
to create many of the Museum’s dioramas along with artist David Burnside.
Judy was in charge of the Museum’s day-to-day operations. She is fondly
remembered by the selection of gemstone rings she wore on each finger.
Dinosaur Day January 9, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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Scout
Badges & Educational Programs
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Geologist,
Museum Educator and Boy Scout Merit Badge Counselor,
Sara Johnson conducts programs at the Museum that count
toward the completion of Merit Badges for Scout groups.
Webelos in Cub Scouts can earn their Geology Badge,
Boy Scouts their Geology Merit Badge and Junior Girl
Scouts their Rocks Rock Badge. Programs include rock
and mineral identification, careers in earth science
and the uses of rocks and minerals in everyday life.
A general tour of the Museum is a good way to get started
familiarizing your group with rocks and minerals. Additional
educational programs are useful for small groups such
as home schools and Science Olympics events. Outreach
programs are available to schools. To schedule a group
tour, additional educational activity or outreach program
call the Museum (630) 833-1616 or email Sara Johnson
at info@lizzadromuseum.org.
Educational and outreach
program support provided in part through a grant from
the DuPage Community Foundation.
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Educational
Boxes Available
The Museum offers educational boxes with
rocks, minerals, and fossils, hands-on
specimens and activities. Three boxes are
available for
loan: Rocks& Minerals, The Quartz Family, and Illinois Rocks& Minerals.
Geared for 3rd thru 6th grade, boxes are loaned free of charge
to groups; school, scout, home schools, camps and day cares. Call
or e-mail the Museum
for an educational brochure.
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Download
a PDF of the Winter Newsletter HERE
Download
our Educational Brochure
(You
must have Acrobat Reader for these documents)
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