I used Vinyl in the title, because that has become the common name for these beads, but there is no truth in widely published 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.
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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