Emeralds Were To Die For

The fashion for green in the 1930s naturally extended to jewellery, with emeralds and jade being in demand. 

A short story by G.B. Stern appeared in the May 1937 edition of Woman's Journal magazine. It was called 'Alas! Dear Love' and it was an unfortunate tale of a wife who is shot dead in her bed, presumably for the emerald necklace that she had been showing off that evening. However it turns out that her husband had done the shooting, because he had recently been told that he had a terminal illness and he just knew that his wife wouldn't be able to live without him. How kind of him to put her out of her misery like that. The 1930s were indeed strange days...

He gave her the emerald necklace as an alibi and hid it in his bureau after the deed had been done. Would that really have escaped the police? Anyway, here is the description of the emeralds:

"They were lovely stones, steady green fire...all the while the green stones were flashing against her skin as she twined them round her wrist, heaped them into her palm, even rubbed them with sensuous little cries of pleasure up and down her cheek."

Steady on, old gal. But with the illustrative drawing we get the message, emeralds were THE gift to give in 1937, so in demand that a murder for their possession is taken for granted even by the CID.

Green for Green Spaces

 In February 1936, it was reported that the National Trust were to have a new style of name plate for their properties. The omega shaped plaque would be moulded in a silver-grey metal, and would be marked with green oak leaves with the name of the place depicted in black lettering.

These name plates were designed by Joseph Armstrong and an initial distribution of 700 plates was planned.

It became an enduring design, the green oak leaves have now become shorthand for a location of natural beauty, a place for escapism from modern life.