Unfinished business

[Bill Johnson]

I wanted to try and replicate a beautiful crystal garden in a large fishbowl that my grandmother (Granny)often displayed in the front window.
Granny used a lump of coal, some salt and laundry bluing. I loved to watch it grow.
One problem: Not a lump of coal to be found.

 

[Ken Anderson]

Ignore the charcoal products and you can find coal on Amazon.

 

[Beth Gallagher]

Sounds interesting @Bill Johnson . Too bad Santa didn't leave you a lump of coal to play with!!

 

[Shirley Martin]

Do they even still make laundry bluing?

I had the children do something like that for the summer reading program, but I don't remember exactly what it involved.

 

[Don Alaska]

I think they still make bluing, and we used to make those crystal gardens when I was young. Bituminous coal works better than anthracite, and coal is still available here. Some people still heat with it.

 

[Joe Riley]

I found a boxed "lump of coal" in a novelty store some years back, to put in a child's Christmas stocking.

 

[Joe Riley]

@Bill Johnson Hello, and welcome to the forum!

 

[Beth Gallagher]

@Bill Johnson -- I googled it and found that you can use charcoal briquettes. (I assume the plain ones that don't have lighter fluid in them.) Google says you need something porous, so coal, charcoal, or even brick can be used.

 

[Bill Johnson]

I wanted to try and replicate a beautiful crystal garden in a large fishbowl that my grandmother (Granny)often displayed in the front window.
Granny used a lump of coal, some salt and laundry bluing. I loved to watch it grow.
One problem: Not a lump of coal to be found.

@Bill Johnson Hello, and welcome to the forum!

@Bill Johnson Hello, and welcome to the forum!

Thank you Joe.

 

[Joe Riley]

@Bill Johnson Bill, If you would like to introduce yourself, please stop by the Introduction Section.