An epiphany and a family legacy — the story of Foxy Lady Stuff

In the 1960s television series "I Dream of Jeannie," an astronaut found a bottle in the sand.

Removing the bottle's stopper, smoke emerged along with a genie with incredible powers — changing the space voyager's life forever.

The show was entertaining fiction.

In real life, Emily Fulenwider Fox, owner/proprietor of Jackson's Foxy Lady Stuff, found something, a stone, on a Wisconsin beach.

The discovery led Fox on a path to a new vocation, plus a way to begin to heal from the death of her father and to reclaim a building in uptown, at 208 S. High St., that had been in her family's possession since Franklin Roosevelt entered the White House.

Origins

Fox is the granddaughter of R.A. Fulenwider, someone who might be called Jackson royalty.

Fulenwider, who founded a pharmacy in 1939 in Jackson, was a civic leader, political advocate and devoted member of the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce. In fact, the chamber's most prestigious annual award is named for him.

Granddaughter Emily now occupies the building her grandfather had built in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression.

"He had it constructed with a gable roof in case a second floor was ever added, which never happened," Fox recalled.

Fulenwider rented out 208 S. High until Fox's father, chiropractor Rowland Fulenwider, took it over and established his practice in December 1976.

"Dad was there until 2005, when he struck by a car on his way home for lunch," remembered Fox, who added her father passed away from his injuries 40 days later.

After the death of her father, the building was vacant until Fox herself formally started her own handcrafted jewelry business in November 2020.

After 15 years of sitting idle, there was much to do to make the structure serviceable again.

"For example, the floor had five layers of carpet glued together and we had to pull it up," she said, adding that her late father's office "is still like he left it the day he was struck," as an ongoing tribute.

Foxy Lady Stuff, a shop featuring handcrafted jewelry, is at 208 S. Main St. in Jackson. Emily Fulenwider Fox, the proprietor, stands in front of the building, which has been in her family for three generations.Jeff Long

Inspiration

Fox, who worked 20 years as an ultrasound technician in Cape Girardeau, said she and her family were once enjoying a vacation along Lake Michigan in the Badger State.

"I found a piece of sea glass on the beach. That day happened to be 12 years after my dad died to the day. When I found that piece, it was a message. I knew if God could do that with a piece of broken glass, He could do that with my heart," she said.

Finding sea glass also came a good time for Fox vocationally.

"I had torn my rotator cuff," Fox recalled. "I tried to do my job for awhile but was in a lot of pain. Ended up I could only do the ultrasound one day a week because it took four days for my shoulder to recover. That's one of the reasons I make jewelry full time now."

Sea glass refers to naturally weathered pieces of glass, which often have the appearance of tumbled stones.

Today, Emily, along with her husband and teenage son, have collected sea glass plus various stones, all of which are used in the jewelry Fox makes entirely by hand.

Fox said she has done sea glass collection in Victoria, British Columbia; Puerto Rico; Hawaii; Scotland; and England, adding her 16-year-old "is the best sea glasser you're ever going to meet."

She has mined for sunstone in Oregon and for turquoise in Nevada.

"When we go on vacation, we go mining," Fox said.

The business

"I started out using resin to put in sea glass and started making jewelry. People started liking it and I decided to learn more," said Fox, who began taking classes at Craft Alliance in St. Louis while still doing ultrasound.

"I drove after work for six weeks, back and forth from St. Louis, to learn from a metalsmith, Robert Thomas Mullen, who taught me about basic metalsmithing, about soldering and casting," she added.

After the classes concluded, Fox sustained her shoulder injury, which eventually brought her ultrasound career to a close.

In short order, her handcrafted jewelry hobby became her life's work.

Fox said customers would come by her home to see what she had made, a situation she said was unsustainable.

"Honestly, I'm a messy person and people wanted to come by my house and see pieces, so I'd meet people by the curb. I decided I couldn't make jewelry and keep my house clean; it's one or the other," she said. "I asked my mom, who owns this building, if I could open up the front room of 208 S. High so people could come in and view and try on the jewelry. That was in November 2020 and moving everything there took away my anxiety of trying to be tidy."

Healing

"I knew I was on some sort of path when I discovered that piece of sea glass in Wisconsin. I had been brokenhearted for so long. I never had an answer for why my dad got hit and it bothered me a lot. To be able to take a broken piece of sea glass and make it a beautiful piece of jewelry just came alive to me and was a healing," Fox said. "I had to keep making jewelry because people wanted pieces. I'm so much better now than I was thanks to making jewelry."

Fox said she does craft fairs and won "Best in Show" in a November 2019 competition.

She makes 10 to 12 handcrafted pieces of jewelry per week, ranging in price from $16 for a ring to $400 for a necklace.

"It's very time-consuming work. For example, I've taken a full day to make a necklace," said the Jackson High School and Middle Tennessee State graduate, who said she has also become adept at lapidary, or the shaping of stones.

"I cut and polish all my stones myself. I roll out my silver and cut my own silver. There's nothing manufactured here except by me. I'd say a quarter of my pieces has turquoise in it, another 25% has sea glass and the rest is floral jewelry and enamel work," Fox estimated.

"There is something in my shop for everyone," she said, adding no jewelry is made on order.

"I'm not a planner; I don't do schedules. I come in Monday morning and start and whatever is going to be it going to be," Fox said.

Postscript

"To be the third generation of my family in this building is very important," Fox said. "Mom held onto the building after dad died and my brother and I will never let this place go."

Foxy Lady Stuff is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

The business has a Facebook page and online ordering is available at www.foxyladystuff.com.

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