Old Fossils and Their Rocks

What Happens to Rock Hoarder Collections

“May you live in interesting times!”

This classic phrase is called “The Chinese Curse” even though there is no record of it ever being “Chinese”. But it’s a great curse and never more appropriate than right now. These times are nothing if not really, really interesting. I take keyboard in hand today to write about a small and virtually unnoticed micro event that I think is very interesting.

First, a disclaimer. Nearly all of this essay is my own unproven speculation. It’s based on my own personal experience and very little else. But I do think my experience gives me perspective that others don’t have and I think my speculation is dead-on accurate. You might disagree. If you do, please tell me why in a comment.

The Rock Hoarders

My dad, Marvin Mabbutt (See the thumbnail bio at the bottom of the front page.) was a rock hoarder. For fifty years, he hoarded rocks like a man in the desert thirsts for water. It was such a complete part of my life when I was a teenager that it was like, “Doesn’t everybody hoard rocks?” All of my dad’s friends were rock hoarders too. I think my dad was the best of them, meaning that he put more intense effort into it and was largely more successful at it.

The desire and opportunity for classic rockhounds to hoard rocks has created a unique moment in history. The people I would call traditional rockhounds only existed for one generation: My dad’s generation.

That generation grew up in the teeth of the Great Depression. Just surviving was the first priority. My dad was one of five brothers who grew up in a high mountain coal mining camp and he was as tough as a boiled owl. As a very young man, he became a pretty good fisherman and hunter. But fishing and hunting wasn’t a year-round solution to the values that drove my dad in a hard-scrabble town at the edge of the desert. At some point, he learned that there were rocks out in the desert that actually had value. All you had to do was go out and find them. The focus of the rest of his life was set at that moment.

Today, that opportunity is gone because nearly all the rocks are gone. Take Utah Plasma, for example. Never heard of it? I might be one of the last people alive who knows what it is. When I was a kid, it was quite popular with my dad and his friends. It’s a green and orange jasper that takes a great polish. I can remember my dad driving across a shale flat where it was all over, right on top of the ground. I asked my dad why we didn’t stop and get some because it would be easy to do. He said that if he ever wanted any, there was plenty there.

My dad was wrong about that. Today, I challenge you to find even a tiny piece on that flat. I challenge you to find the flat. It has ALL been picked up. There are rocks like Blue Forest wood and Salina Canyon wonderstone that you can still find “in the wild” if you’re willing to do some major digging and take the risk of getting buried by overburden. Read the story of the Utah red horn coral. Someone did die after being buried by overburden.

I went away to get a degree in engineering and a career in computer software. My dad never discovered where the “on” switch was on a computer. We lived in completely different worlds. Before I left to get an education, my dad dragged me out into the desert all the time and I dabbled in polishing a few cabs, so I had a basic grounding in what my dad did.

The bottom line is that when my dad died, one of the decisions I had to make was what I should do with my dad’s truly impressive hoard of rocks. My friends and customers know that what I decided to do was just send them to people who would really appreciate them.

The problem – what to do with a rock hoard – is not unique. As I have gained more understanding of old fossils like my dad and their rock hoards, I’ve learned that there are lots of people driven to accumulate piles of rocks for most of their life. And so, the question about what to do with the rocks has descended on lots of rock hoarder kids. In turn, this has created an opportunity for rock hoarder merchants.

The Rock Hoarder Merchants

I believe that many … maybe even “most” … rock hoarder kids were approached by a rock hoarder merchant:

“Hey! Howya Doin! Whaddayasay I take all these dirty old rocks off your hands. I’ll do it all. You won’t have to lift a finger. And I’ll give you a tidy sum for the whole pile that will help in this time of the loss of your dad.”

It happened to me. As I considered my options, I was able to tour a “back room” where the hoards were warehoused. It was really impressive!

My dad was a great craftsman. He made his own rock saw. And his own trim saw. And his own industrial scale rock tumblers. And his own flat lap. And his own diamond drill. And his own gold sluice. And his own rock grindstone, sanding wheels, and polishing wheels. When I write, “He made his own …” I mean exactly that. He designed them (he was a fair draftsman and drew his own design plans) and used machine tools like a metal lathe to create components. While he was recovering from an industrial accident which disabled one of his legs (See The Creature in the Desert), he modified his truck so he could drive it with just one leg. Don’t ask me how he did that with just one leg, but he did. He would have been one hell of an engineer but he didn’t even graduate from high school.

While being inordinately proud of my dad’s accomplishments, I now understand that a lot of other old fossils made a lot of their own equipment too. When I was allowed to tour the hoarder warehouse, I noticed that about half a dozen old, well-used, hand-made rock saws were stacked against a wall. “Where would this guy get half a dozen old, hand-made rock saws?” sez I to me. There’s just one obvious answer.

So, what do rock hoarder merchants do with the rocks? At this point, I hit a dead end in my personal experience. But I think that a lot of them are simply shipped to third-world jewelry factories to be turned into something that can be mass-marketed – like beads.

I’ve noticed that Ebay, Etsy and other venues are sometimes suddenly flooded with certain rocks – rocks that I understand. Utah Agatized Barites and Tempskya Fern are two that are perfect examples. I have seen very little of either rock available from traditional rock sellers. But I have seen literally dozens of almost identical beads advertised on Ebay. Prices are often in odd amounts like they were converted from some other currency. Here’s one – almost certainly copied from a catalog since multiple ads from (supposedly) different sellers use the same photograph. (Identifying information has been erased to protect the guilty.)

I’m not saying, “Don’t buy these beads.” I’ve never bought any but just from appearances, they’re a pretty good deal! If you want to take a chance and buy some, don’t hesitate. I’ve noticed that these floods don’t last forever. After a few months, they’re just not there anymore. If you have bought some, leave a comment and let us know what your experience was like.

I’m not really in business. I’m just having fun with my dad’s rocks.

When I was first confronted with the question, “What should I do with my dad’s rock hoard?” My wife would ask that question frequently. I never had a good answer. One thing I did know was that turning my dad’s rock hoard into a real business would have been just a new job. I had just escaped from an old difficult job. I didn’t want another one.

But I like to write and I have software skills. I decided to turn my dad’s rocks into a non-business where I could focus on what I liked. It’s working out pretty well.

I’m learning a lot about rocks that I didn’t know before. Learning has always been fun for me. My dad was the strong, silent type. I didn’t really learn much from him that I didn’t observe for myself.

I’m learning that other people who like rocks are an eclectic selection who are nearly all interesting to meet. From little kids suddenly interested in geology to grandparents interested in grandkids to genuinely dedicated rockhounds, there are a lot of different kinds of people who order rocks.

My dad had a sort of “tunnel vision” about his rocks. Only the rocks he could cut and polish seemed to have value for him. The people I send my dad’s rocks to have all kinds of different reasons for ordering them. I like to learn about what their reasons are.

Why did you order rocks from KinesavaROCKS and what are you doing with them now? A lot of the answers can be found in the pictures posted here at Friends and ROCKS. Check them out!