Pearl diver in Japan

Pearl hunting or pearl diving refers to an obsolete method of retrieving pearls from pearl oysters, freshwater pearl mussels and, on rare occasions, other nacre-producing molluscs, such as abalone.

History[link]

A piece of clothing used by Kuwaiti divers searching for pearls. Demonstrated in the Maritime Museum in Kuwait City, Kuwait

Before the beginning of the 20th century, the only means of obtaining pearls was by manually gathering very large numbers of pearl oysters (or pearl mussels) from the ocean floor (or lake, or river bottom). The bivalves were then brought to the surface, opened, and the tissues searched. More than a ton were searched in order to find at least 3-4 quality pearls.

In order to find enough pearl oysters, free-divers were often forced to descend to depths of over 100 feet on a single breath, exposing them to the dangers of hostile creatures, waves, and drowning, often as a result of shallow water blackout on resurfacing.^[1] Because of the difficulty of diving and the unpredictable nature of natural pearl growth in pearl oysters, pearls of the time were extremely rare and of varying quality.

In Asia some pearl oysters could be found on shoals at a depth of 5–7 feet (1.5–2 meters) from the surface, but more often than not divers had to go 40 feet (12 meters) or even up to 125 feet (40 meters) deep to find enough pearl oysters, and these deep dives were extremely hazardous to the divers. In the 19th century, divers in Asia had only very basic forms of technology to aid their survival at such depths. For example, in some areas, they greased their bodies to conserve heat, put greased cotton in their ears, wore a tortoise-shell clip to close their nostrils, gripped a large object like a rock to descend without the wasteful effort of swimming down and had a wide mouthed basket or net to hold the oysters.^[1][2]

For thousands of years, most seawater pearls were retrieved by divers working in the Indian Ocean, in areas such as the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and in the Gulf of Mannar (between Sri Lanka and India).^[3] A surviving fragment from the book Journey Around Parthia by Isidore of Charax, a 1st century geographer from the city of Charax on the northern end of the Persian Gulf, deals with the subject of pearl fishing.

Pearl divers near the Philippines were also successful at harvesting large pearls, especially in the Sulu Archipelago. In fact, pearls from the Sulu Archipelago were considered the "finest of the world" which were found in "high bred" shells in deep, clear, and rapid tidal waters. At times, the largest pearls belonged by law to the sultan, and selling them could result in the death penalty for the seller. Nonetheless many pearls made it out of the archipelago by stealth, ending up in the possession of the wealthiest families in Europe.^[4] . Pearling was popular in Qatar, Bahrain, and some areas in Gulf countries.

In a similar manner as in Asia, Native Americans harvested freshwater pearls from lakes and rivers like the Ohio, Tennessee, and Mississippi, while others successfully retrieved marine pearls from the Caribbean and waters along the coasts of Central and South America.

In the time of colonial slavery in northern South America (off the northern coasts of modern Colombia and Venezuela), a unique occupation amongst slaves was that of a pearl diver. A diver's career was often short-lived because the waters being searched were known to be shark-infested, resulting in frequent attacks on divers. However, a slave who discovered an extra-large pearl could sometimes purchase his freedom.^[5]

Present[link]

Today, pearl diving has largely been supplanted by cultured pearl farms, which use a process widely popularized and promoted by Japanese entrepreneur Kokichi Mikimoto. Particles implanted in the oyster encourage the formation of pearls, and allow for more predictable production. Today's pearl industry produces billions of high quality pearls every year. Ama divers still work, primarily now for the tourist industry.

Pearl diving in the Ohio and Tennessee rivers of the United States still exists today. These pearls are called natural pearls, because they are created by nature alone, and are not cultivated by humans. Their shapes are uniquely baroque^{[citation needed]}. Fewer than 1% are found in the classic round shape.^{[citation needed]} They are very rare and are considered collector's items.

See also[link]

Underwater diving portal

• Fijiri - vocal music of the Arabian pearl diver.
• Ama divers, Japanese female divers
• Zubarah an 18th-19th pearl fishing and trading port in Qatar, now an archaeological site
• Paravar

Bibliography[link]

• Al-Hijji, Yacoub Yusuf (2006). Kuwait and the Sea. A Brief Social and Economic History. Arabian Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9558894-4-8. 
• al-Shamlan, Saif Marzooq (2001). Pearling in the Arabian Gulf. A Kuwaiti Memoir. The London Centre of Arab Studies. ISBN 1-900404-19-2. 
• Bari, Hubert; Lam, David (2010). Pearls. SKIRA / Qatar Museums Authority. ISBN 978-99921-61-15-9.  Especially chapter 4 p. 189-238 The Time of the Great Fisheries (1850-1940)
• Ganter, Regina (1994). The Pearl-Shellers of Torres Strait: Resource Use, Development and Decline, 1860s-1960s. Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0-522-84547-9. 
• George Frederick Kunz: Book of the Pearl (G.F. Kunz was America's leading gemologist and worked for Tiffany's in the beginning of the 20th century)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pearl diving

• American Museum of Natural History

v t e Fisheries and fishing topic areas Fisheries Fisheries science Wild fisheries Fish farming Aquaculture Fish diversity Fish diseases Fisheries management Fishing quota Sustainability Fishing Fisherman Artisan fishing Fishing villages Fishing vessels Fishing history Industrial Commercial fishing Processing Products Seafood Marketing Markets Recreational Angling Game fishing Fly fishing Catch and release Techniques Gathering Spearfishing Line fishing Netting Trawling Trapping Other Tackle Hook Line Sinker Rod Bait Lures Artificial flies Bite alarms Locations Fishing by country Fishing villages Fishing banks Fish ponds Marine habitats Index of fishing articles List of fishing topics by subject Fisheries glossary

Minnie Pearl
Minnie Pearl performing at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California
Background information
Birth name	Sarah Ophelia Colley
Also known as	Minnie Pearl
Born	(1912-10-25)October 25, 1912 Centerville, Tennessee, United States
Died	March 4, 1996(1996-03-04) (aged 83) Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Genres	Country Comedy
Occupations	Country comedian
Years active	1939–1991

Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon (October 25, 1912 – March 4, 1996), known professionally as Minnie Pearl, was an American country comedienne who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years (from 1940 to 1991) and on the television show Hee Haw from 1969 to 1991.^[1][2]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Sarah Colley was born in Centerville, in Hickman County, Tennessee, about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Nashville. She was the youngest of the five daughters of a prosperous lumberman in Centerville.^[3] She graduated from Ward-Belmont College (now Belmont University), at the time Nashville's most prestigious school for young ladies, where her major was theater studies and dance was a particular interest. After graduation she taught dance for several years.^[4]

Professional career[link]

Pearl in 1965.

Her first professional theatrical job was with the Wayne P. Sewell Production Company, a touring theater company based in Atlanta, for which she produced and directed plays and musicals for local organizations in small towns throughout the southeastern United States.^[3][4]

As part of her work with the Sewell company, she made brief appearances at civic organizations to promote the group's shows. She developed her Minnie Pearl routine during this period.^[4] While producing an amateur musical comedy in Baileyton, Alabama, she met a mountain woman whose style and talk became the basis for "Cousin Minnie Pearl".^[3] Her first stage performance as Minnie Pearl was in 1939 in Aiken, South Carolina.^[3] The following year, executives from Nashville radio station WSM-AM saw her perform at a bankers' convention in Centerville and gave her an opportunity to appear on the Grand Ole Opry on November 30, 1940.^[3][4] The success of her debut on the show began an association with the Grand Ole Opry that continued for more than 50 years.^[5]

Pearl's comedy was gentle satire of rural Southern culture, often called "hillbilly" culture. Pearl always dressed in styleless "down home" dresses and wore a hat with a price tag hanging from it, displaying the price of $1.98. Her catch phrase was "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E! I'm jes' so proud to be here!" delivered in a loud holler. After she became an established star, her audiences usually shouted "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E!" back. Pearl's humor was often self-deprecating, and involved her unsuccessful attempts at attracting the attention of "a feller" and, particularly in later years, her age. She also told monologues involving her comical 'ne'er-do-well' relatives, notably "Uncle Nabob" and "Brother", who was simultaneously both slow-witted and wise. She usually closed her monologues with the exit line, "I love you so much it hurts!" She also sang comic novelty songs.

Pearl's comic material derived heavily from her hometown of Centerville, which in her act she called Grinder's Switch. Grinder's Switch is a community just outside of Centerville that consisted of little more than a railroad switch. Those who knew her recognized that the characters were largely based on real residents of Centerville. So much traffic resulted from fans and tourists looking for Grinder's Switch that the Hickman County Highway Department eventually changed the designation on the "Grinder's Switch" road sign to "Hickman Springs Road."

Cannon portrayed Minnie Pearl for many years on television, first on ABC's Ozark Jubilee in the late 1950s; then on the long-running television series Hee Haw, both on CBS and the subsequent syndicated version. She made several appearances on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. Her last regular performances on national television were on Ralph Emery's Nashville Now country-music talk show on the former Nashville Network cable channel. With Emery she performed in a weekly feature, "Let Minnie Steal Your Joke," in the Minnie Pearl character and read jokes submitted by viewers, with prizes for the best jokes.^[3]

Cannon made a cameo appearance in the film Coal Miner's Daughter, in which she appears at the Opry as her Minnie Pearl character.

Family life[link]

On February 23, 1947 Sarah Colley married Henry R. Cannon, who had been an Army Air Corps fighter pilot during World War II and was then a partner in an air charter service. After the marriage, Henry Cannon set up his own air charter service for country music performers and took over management of the Minnie Pearl character.^[3][5] His clients in the charter service included Eddy Arnold, Colonel Tom Parker, Hank Williams, Carl Smith, Webb Pierce, and Elvis Presley.^[3] The couple had no children.^[5] In 1969 they purchased a large estate home in Nashville next door to the Tennessee Governor's mansion.^[6]

Chicken restaurants[link]

In the late 1960s Nashville entrepreneur John Jay Hooker persuaded Cannon and African-American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson to lend their names to a chain of fried chicken restaurants established to compete with Kentucky Fried Chicken. After initially reporting good results and enjoying a public stock worth $64 million, the venture collapsed amid allegations of accounting irregularities and stock price manipulation. The ensuing investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cleared both Cannon and Jackson of involvement in financial wrongdoings, but both were embarrassed by the negative publicity.

Cancer research[link]

After battling breast cancer through aggressive treatments including a double mastectomy and radiation therapy, she became a spokeswoman for the medical center in Nashville where she had been treated. She took on this role as herself, Sarah Ophelia Cannon, not Minnie Pearl, although a nonprofit group, the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation, was founded in her memory to help fund cancer research. The center where she was treated was later named the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center, and has been expanded to several other hospitals in Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky. Her name has also been lent to the affiliated Sarah Cannon Research Institute.^{[citation needed]}

Final years[link]

Cannon suffered a serious stroke in June 1991,^[3] bringing her performing career to an end. After the stroke she resided in a Nashville nursing home where she received frequent visits from country music industry figures, including Chely Wright, Vince Gill and Amy Grant. Her death on March 4, 1996, at the age of 83, was attributed to complications from another stroke. She is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Franklin, Tennessee.

Legacy and influence[link]

She was an important influence on younger female country music singers and rural humorists such as Jerry Clower, Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Carl Hurley, David L Cook, Chonda Pierce, Ron White and Larry the Cable Guy. In 1992, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts. In 2002 she was ranked as number 14 on CMT's 40 Greatest Women in Country Music list.^{[citation needed]}

She was friends with performers outside the country genre, including Dean Martin (she appeared on an episode of The Dean Martin Show), and Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman).^[7] In 1992 Reubens made what would be his last appearance as Pee-wee Herman for the next 15 years at a Minnie Pearl tribute show.^[8]

Bronze statues of Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff are displayed in the lobby of the Ryman Auditorium. Chely Wright and Dean Sams (of Lonestar) posed for the statues.

A museum dedicated to Minnie Pearl was situated just outside the Grand Ole Opry House at Opryland USA (next to another museum dedicated to Roy Acuff), but the museum closed along with the theme park in 1997. Many of its artifacts were moved to the adjacent Grand Ole Opry Museum, some of which may have been damaged in the 2010 Tennessee floods.

Books[link]

Recordings[link]

Selected Albums[link]

• = a guest appearance on another star's album or an appearance on a various artists album.

Singles[link]

Minnie Pearl released a number of single records for RCA Victor during the 1950s including a few duets with Grandpa Jones. During this period she also made guest appearances on records by Chet Atkins and Ernest Tubb. In the 1960s she moved to Starday Records. At age 54 she recorded a top ten hit for Starday, "Giddyup Go - Answer," a response to Red Sovine's classic "Giddyup Go".^[10] She later recorded with Sovine and Buddy Starcher in other single releases.

Pearl was back on RCA in 1974 when she and Archie Campbell released a parody record of Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty's hit "As Soon As I Hang Up The Phone" which received airplay but did not chart. In 1977, she appeared with a number of other Opry members on Dolly Parton's New Harvest - First Gathering album, singing on the song "Applejack". In 1986 she was a featured guest vocalist, along with Jerry Clower, on the Ray Stevens comedy single entitled "Southern Air". It charted in the Top-70 of Billboard

References[link]

• Kingsbury, Paul (1998). "Minnie Pearl". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 409–10.
• Pearl, Minnie with Joan Dew (1980). Minnie Pearl: An Autobiography. New York: Simon and Schuster.
• Sarah Cannon Cancer Center
• Sarah Cannon Research Institute
• The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation
• Lifetime Honors - National Medal of Arts.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Minnie Pearl at the Country Music Hall of Fame
• Minnie Pearl at the Internet Movie Database
• Minnie Pearl At Find A Grave