One of the curious artifacts handed down through the family is this pair of earrings, supposedly made of lead bullets.
I vaguely recall someone remarking on them once, as we pawed through a jewelry box: “Oh, those are the earrings we used to make out of bullets.”
That’s what I have to go on. When I examine them now, all kinds of questions arise that it’s too late to ask. Whose bullets? For what gun, and what was its use? Why did the bullets get turned into earrings? Did my foremothers make their earrings out of bullets during the depression, when no other jewelry was to be had? Surely, they were not cosmetically irresistible — I mean, look at them. Are they really a must-have, just the thing to set off an outfit?
Of course, I googled “bullet earrings,” and it seems the practice has been around for some time — there are all sorts of varieties to be had. Not lead bullet earrings like the ones above, but still.
So in the spirit of the holiday season, and in light of the recent tragedy in Newtown, Conn., it seems to me a fitting idea. You know, swords into ploughshares, bullets into earrings …
Peace on Earth