of what now looks like the heyday of collectible beads...the late 20th - early 21st century...

1982...the Glass Trade Bead Conference at Rochester, NY...the published
material from that is now referred to as "the Rochester papers"
1985...The 1st International Bead Conference...aboard the Queen Mary 1,
Los Angeles
1990...The 2nd International Bead Conference, DC

1995...one more Bead Conference in DC, but I don't know what this one was
called. I remember Liza Wataghani's tote bag, with Kiffa beads
printed on it from that conference. I believe I've seen an image
of a commemorative lampwork bead from this conference, but can't
recall where.

Since those days, we've seen the flourishing rise and then the tragic fall of 2 bead museums here in the U.S.

And wonderful bead symposiums at Santa Fe by Peter Francis, Jr. beginning in the late 1990s.

But research continues to flourish, and wonderful books filled with all sorts of bead knowledge continue to be published.

The 1990 pin was a nice find, Rosanna.