Again ... we could not describe this Tucson Show experience better than Xpopress does on their website, so we will give them credit for this engaging description:

​Every year for about 2.5 weeks in January and February — the rock, gem, mineral and jewelry worlds cosmically align in Tucson. Researchers, gemologists, authors, artists, miners and nearly 4,000 trade companies gather here from every continent to share their treasures, knowledge and expertise with the show’s tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of attendees. Earth’s gem and mineral riches are on display at over 40 venues unfurled all over town, for sale in huge circus tents, expo halls, hotels, warehouses, and in the city’s fine Convention Center. Every type of polished and rough rock and fossil specimen and every kind of faceted jewel that you can imagine is being peddled everywhere — on blankets on sidewalks or in sophisticated exhibits brought in by the world’s finest museums and collectors. All of the shows are free except the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show® held at the Convention Center. Indeed, Tucson hosts the Giant of all Gem Shows, the largest of its kind in the universe.


   The shows on Lester Street ... this will be hard to describe, so stick with me.  Many years ago, some dealers found some empty lots on Lester Street, off of Oracle.  There had been dealers on this stretch of road previously, but some had withered, and some had prospered.  

Then a favorite -- almost historic -- La Fuente Mexican restaurant, which was on Oracle for 55 years, closed in 2014.  (As our Asian and European friends know, 55 years translates to "historic" in the western US!)  We had a fond place in our heart for La Fuente, having shared fun lunches with a good friend and customer there for many, many years in Tucson.

But the Tucson Shows are a key element in resurrecting down-trodden areas of Tucson -- if only for a few months in the winter.  

And that is what has occurred on Lester Street.  It has come alive with rocks, gems, and minerals.  Bruce Barlow moved there a few years ago, and shares with Glenn Archer, a veteran dealer from Australia, Missouri Minerals has been there for years, and now the street has exploded with what we would call "industrial condo" and hard tent development with 95 dealers in easy walk of each other.

Jewel Tunnel, the Rock Currier Foundation Trust, is located in the former La Fuente Restaurant.  

​Mineral City is a new development that bills itself as the only show with an onsite mineral preparation lab and custom acrylic base service.  50 dealers with permanent spaces, open 10-6, for 16 days.  High-end minerals are what you will see at Mineral City.  A friend described a visit there as a happy visit to a free mineral museum.

One could spend an entire day visiting just these Lester Street shows!

   Fossil and Mineral Alley at Days Inn-Tucson City Center (formerly known as the Arizona Mineral and Fossil Show - Ramada Limited Tucson West) is a struggling show with only 20 dealers this year.   There are some indoor and outdoor locations, specializing in minerals and fossils, gem and lapidary art, rough rock, artifacts, and metaphysical.  Wholesale credentials are at vendor discretion. 

The free Show Shuttle stops at this location, but when we visited early in the show, there was not a lot of foot traffic.  It is still the show where many fossil buyers see their favorite sellers and the show has survived much change over the years.  
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​   Miners Coop Rock show ... so this is truly a rockhound show.  All dealers are set up outside next to a very noisy I-10 freeway, but because of their willingness to endure that noise, we get the benefit of wandering among tables and trays and drums and wagons and trailer-loads of rough rock and lapidary material and mineral specimens. We didn't find much in the way of wood, but Jim did pick up a few items of interest.   

50 Dealers here this year, so this show which is 10 miles out of Tucson, seems to be growing each year.  


   JG&M Expo at Simpson Street is a huge tent with fewer dealers than they could host.  Located on the east side of I-10, the locations offers plenty of free parking for customers.  

Check out the size of the minerals pictured here.  Tucson tent shows provide the perfect venue for vendors to get their wares into the space with forklifts.  



The Freeway Shows, as they are affectionately known, are shows held in motel rooms, plaza tents, and open marketplaces along the west side of I-10.  There are  a multitude of metaphysical dealers at these shows, along with rock dealers, jewelry vendors and items sold by the flat.  Very diverse show indeed.

Samee and Ness Cordova, shown right with Jim at the Pueblo Gem and Mineral Show, are longtime dealers with an array of different materials for sale.  When we visit Samee's and Ness's booth, we always feel as though we have stepped into a rock shop of old -- you know, the places that always had a variety of rocks and fossils for sale, much of which was self-collected or acquired from old collections.  The variety is amazing here.  Samee and Ness recently sold their business, which was formerly known as Ancient Graveyards, to a gentleman that they continue to support at big shows like this one.  

There are a mind-boggling 289 vendors at this Pueblo show alone (and there are several more motel shows on this stretch of freeway) which has taken place in Tucson for 35 years.  The hotel name has changed numerous times, but the show has kept the Pueblo name, even though the original hotel was razed and rebuilt many years ago.

We often find some interesting specimens with Samee and Ness!

1820 Oracle Wholesale Show is strictly wholesale to persons and businesses with resale licenses (seller's permits)

The large warehouse, complete with loading dock, is home to Howard Schlansker and Top Gem.  Schlansker makes a strong point that they are wholesale only with a minimum purchase of $100. 

Top Gem offers flats of minerals, some by the flat only, and some as you-pick specimens, all at wholesale prices.  Each year, they have minerals and agates, Madagascar fossils, invertebrate fossils, and often "new find" minerals in large quantities that draw the mineral dealers to their opening in large numbers..  

The dealers in the accessory industrial condo units include:
​Ausrox (Australian minerals and lapidary), Ramos (Peruvian minerals), West Desert Collectors (Utah, trilobites, Bixbyite, and topaz from the Wah Wah Mountains, Lehigh Minerals, Red Metal Minerals (Michigan copper), Rocko, Clive Quiet (Namibian minerals), Minerama (French minerals)

This seems to be a very stable show with most of the dealers leasing over multiple years.  The vendors have the luxury of being able to leave their showcases, and even merchandise, should they choose, in their unit from year to year. 

This seems to be an expanding model for doing business in Tucson.  So much less to move back and forth!





This is an odd picture, not just because the perspective is strange, but because this is a photo taken out of the window from our favorite Tucson restaurant (Maynard's French at the Historic Downtown Railway Station) showing the white drapes placed over the tops of the citrus trees in the landscaped and lighted plaza. 

​Why the drapes?  Because Tucson this week had very atypical weather -- very cold days and hard-freeze nights.  Citrus trees do not like 22 degrees (-5 Celsius); in fact they hate it.  We can't say we were very fond of it either, but the beautiful desert winter weather has returned, the drapes have come down, and the fruit is ripe for picking.  
   

   
​   Tucson's Hidden Gem Show has an apt name, as we had never visited it before today, and we were told by the building's owner that this is their fifth year.  Formerly called Samora Minerals Warehouses, this site at 707 N. Main Street is now open to the public and hosts 10 vendors, all of whom seemed relatively busy even this late in show.  Plenty of parking, lots of variety at this place.  

We were particularly fascinated by the gorgeous Chiapas Mexican amber (Oligocene) with insects ... and plants inside! 
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