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[Krystal McGinty-Carter]

Its definately not bakelite and it doesn't look like celluloid. It looks painted(?)  The clam shell casting marks are a giveaway that it was mass produced. Certain clays are sometimes mixed with synthetic resins to make them more durable while retaining the clay "look." That being said,  beads were and still are a major tourist commodity in Indonesia.  ( My "armchair expert" is showing....I've bought and sold vintage clothing and textiles since I was 15.)

[C.W. Herndon]

Thanks to Krystal and Jerry, above, for their revelations about AE's "lucky-elephant-hoof-bracelet". At least we now know for sure why they didn't find Howland Island. AE left her "good luck charm" at home.

[Tim Collins]

The quote from Last Flight is:
"In Batavia are entrancing treasures for the stranger from the west. Attractive as they wee, we could not weight down the Electra with purchases. To avoid temptation we had a pact to buy nothing at all - shopping must wait for another visit. To this stern rule I made a small exception. It was a sheath knife – a lovely hand-wrought thing bought at a metal worker’s little shop.  ….. I plotted to wear this Javanese purchase at my belt over the Pacific and then offer it to my favorite Geographer” (J. O. LaGorce of the National Geographic Society)."

Emphasis added

By the way, has National Geographic Society been approached for potential funding?

[Ric Gillespie]

By the way, has National Geographic Society been approached for potential funding?

Several times in several ways.  Bottom line, Nat Geo is thoroughly soured on Amelia Earhart.  They sank a bundle into covering one of the deep-water Howland-vicinity searches and got skunked. 

[JNev]

By the way, has National Geographic Society been approached for potential funding?

Several times in several ways.  Bottom line, Nat Geo is thoroughly soured on Amelia Earhart.  They sank a bundle into covering one of the deep-water Howland-vicinity searches and got skunked.

I bought enough paper copies of National Geographic to sink the Itasca!  They ought to revisit... but I'd understand if you are worn out trying to get them to do so...

Question that comes to mind is "fair enough, but are you in this to solve the mystery, or just to back the test of a given hypothesis?"  Just because they were part of an off-Howland deep water failed attempt should not deter the thick-skinned explorer, IMO - but I'm sure that's wishful thinking.  But point being, she's a real icon, and she's really been missing for 77 years and counting, and she's gotta be somewhere out there - almost with certainty within a 300 mile radius of some point that lies probably between Howland and Niku (OK, OK, MHO...)... 

Oh well, wish we could get them aboard.  Just wondering if they could be re-persuaded to see the value in the WHOLE story - this phenomenon of people still looking in earnest, and of COURSE making a choice to back the most likely to succeed 

[Tim Collins]

One would think that recent developments would hold some persuasion... 

[Ric Gillespie]

One would think that recent developments would hold some persuasion...

Reality check.  Nat'l Geo is a magazine and a television market. They make decisions based on the same over-arching concern that drives all magazines and television markets - advertising revenue.  Nobody is funding magazine articles or television documentaries about searches any more.   Too risky.  The Discovery Channel doesn't even have a documentary department now.  They've become the Trashy Reality Show Channel. If we find the Electra and want funding to go back and do a recovery we'll need mounted police to hold back the prospective producers, but until then it's up to us to find our funding from people like us who care enough to take the risk.  Have you contributed lately?

[Tim Collins]

Reality check.  ... Have you contributed lately?

Sorry if such a discussion tries your patience. I'm just an amateur (never so pejorative as when you use the term) like most of the people on this forum. And no I haven't contributed lately, I put my wallet away a long time ago. But who knows, civility comes in many forms and perceptions may change. 

[Krystal McGinty-Carter]

Hey Ric or anyone handling the bead in question. I dont know who you have lined up for analysis on the bead in question, but you might try the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They have a very extensive collection of vintage textiles, jewelry, clothing, costumes, and uniforms.  They have an entire team that works exclusively in identifying and preserving just these sorts of things.  They might have some insight.  Just a thought.

[Jay Burkett]

Is there any possiblity that the bead is red coral?  See the attached photos.  (All bets are off if the bead is NOT RED.  I am color blind and red poses some problems.  If it is not red, then, never mind ...)

From the sample photos it would appear that coral beads are frequently imperfect in shape and the material frequently has imperfections.

[Ric Gillespie]

Is there any possiblity that the bead is red coral? 

Not really.  Under magnification it's clear that the bead has a seam that runs all the way around.  It was made by gluing(?) two halves together.

[Monty Fowler]

Not gluing. That's the seam where the two halves of the mold come together. Common thing you have to deal with in model building.

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP

[Todd Attebery]

How much does it weigh ?  How about the diameter and diameter of the hole through the middle ?

[Ric Gillespie]

How much does it weigh ? 

The bead weighs in at .165 gram (.0057 oz).

[Ric Gillespie]

How about the diameter and diameter of the hole through the middle ?

See photos below.  Scale is mm.