Vintage red vinyl heishi from Africa, 8mm diameter on 29-inch strands
All red with some slight variations in color and tiny bits of black and yellow
I used Vinyl in the title, because that has become the common name for these beads, but there is no truth in widely publicized story they were made of recycled phonograph records.
They are an early form of plastic designed to imitate and/or expand on the types of heishi (clam, snail, ostrich egg and coconut shell) already popular in Africa at the time (at least 50 years ago)
The Bohemian bead producers were experts at this early "market research", sending intrepid agents to all parts of the continent to discover what beads people were using, and what they might like to see reproduced in more colorful glass or other materials.
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