celebrating women's history month

Pick Up Sticks Jewelry Celebrates Women’s History Month

Posted on by Suzanne

March is Women’s History Month. In celebration, Pick Up Sticks Jewelry Company is featuring prominent women throughout the month and highlighting the impact they had on the world. And to add a little more fun to the history lesson, we are selecting jewelry charms that embody each woman’s unique personality and accomplishments. Today we are celebrating Amelia Earhart.

Amelia Earhart: Born to Fly

Amelia Earhart (A.E. to family and friends) knew she had to become an aviator during her first airplane ride with Frank Hawks, a well-known World War I pilot, on December 28, 1920. She later recounted, “By the time I got two or three hundred feet off the ground, I knew I had to fly.” She began flight lessons in 1921 with Neta Snook, the first female aviator to own an aviation business, and the first woman to run a commercial airfield. Six months later, A.E. purchased her first airplane, a bright yellow Kinner Airster biplane, appropriately nicknamed, “The Canary.” It was in this airplane that she broke the women’s altitude record by flying to 14,000 feet.

From then on she was setting and breaking aviation records, gaining a long list of flight achievements. In 1932, on the 5th anniversary of Lindbergh’s Atlantic flight, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. Her flight took 14 hours and 56 minutes, for which she was awarded the National Geographic Society’s gold medal from President Herbert Hoover. She was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and wrote of her journey in her second book, The Fun of It.

Always in Style

Flight records aside, a little known fact about Amelia Earhart is that she also designed her own fashion line. As a teenager, A.E. designed and sewed her own clothing. In 1933, she was encouraged by fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli to create her own line. Since her style was already admired by the public, and she had designed a flight suit for female aviators, her own clothing line was a natural progression. She also designed travel luggage! You can read more about her life and achievements in the sources below.

Charming A.E.

The first Pick Up Sticks Jewelry charm that embodies the spirit of Amelia Earhart is “Brave,” a small charm with a swallow in flight on one side and the word “brave” on the other. Our flight-inspired jewelry charm “Onward and Upward,” reminds the wearer that “anything is possible.” And last, but not least, is one of our Words & Wisdom charms that states “Fear Not” atop a brave jungle cat, because as Amelia said, “…fears are paper tigers.” The reverse side of the charm shows a wise owl with the phrase “Dream Big.”

We hope this story of Amelia Earhart will encourage you to forge your own path, and we hope you will take Pick Up Sticks Jewelry along for the ride.




Sources:

  1. Amelia Earhart. (2019). Amelia Earhart – The Official Licensing Website of Amelia Earhart. [online] Available at: https://www.ameliaearhart.com/ [Accessed 24 Feb. 2019].
  2. En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Amelia Earhart. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Earhart [Accessed 24 Feb. 2019].
  3. Messy Nessy Chic. (2019). Amelia Earhart’s Forgotten Fashion Line (could probably do with a comeback). [online] Available at: https://www.messynessychic.com/2017/12/21/amelia-earharts-forgotten-fashion-line-could-probably-do-with-a-comeback/ [Accessed 24 Feb. 2019].
  4. En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Neta Snook Southern. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neta_Snook_Southern [Accessed 24 Feb. 2019].
  5. Commons.wikimedia.org. (2019). Category:Amelia Earhart – Wikimedia Commons. [online] Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Amelia_Earhart [Accessed 24 Feb. 2019].