Add a Bead Necklace

and other gemstone beads were also available. Add a Beads were used to honor and celebrate many occasions. For example, it made a great anniversary gift. Husbands could give the necklace with the corresponding number of beads to years married. Each year, a new bead would be added on to the necklace.

Add a Beads could be given as gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, years taught, years worked, years volunteered, children taught, years sober and so forth. It was meant to be built upon year after year. It was often proudly displayed and a great topic of conversation.

This look-a-like for Julie from Valley Girl (photo at left) must have really been loved in the 80s because she got not just one, but two add-a-beads!

From a marketing standpoint, it was genius. Give the consumer something that 1 – needed to be built upon every year. It was guaranteed income every year unless the buyer sluffed off and forget to purchase a new bead for the new year. 2 – It was a surefire gift every year and the gift giver didn’t need to come up with any original ideas.

The repetitiveness is what may have caused the trend to slow down a little. Women got tired of getting only a bead for the necklace every year at anniversary time. The necklace was one of the few things not caught up in neon, camo, or extra large in size. The necklaces were dainty and very pretty. They showed sentiment behind them and were a great gift. Even though the trend has slowed down, beads are still available in some stores.