From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for July 31, 1988:

Whether just used for decoration or for their purported energy-enhancing properties, crystals were a hot item in the 1980s in Lawrence and across the nation. Available for sale in bookstores, gift shops, department and discount stores as well as rock shops, crystals were suddenly being featured in magazines and books and their prices had skyrocketed. “Quartz is something that amplifies energy and that is why it’s used in computers and clocks,” said Jo Potestivo, who was a creator and vender of crystal jewelry at area art fairs. “Why shouldn’t we use it. It is there. It is given to us. Our own life energy can use that.” Kay Bradford, president of the Lawrence Gem and Mineral Club, had a simpler explanation for the attraction of crystals: “They are what we call ‘pretties.’ You put them in your windows and let the sun shine through them.” She described many of the club’s members as “old-timers” who didn’t take crystal power too seriously and who had been a bit taken aback by shoppers seeking rocks “that talked to them.” Bruce Blanc of Lawrence Massage Therapy, 927 1/2 Massachusetts, said he was a “healthy skeptic” who had been studying the rocks for about five years. Saying that he used them with massage only at a client’s request, he explained, “I don’t use crystal healing on anybody who isn’t familiar with it…. But like anything, if the person believes it to be a benefit, then it will be a benefit.” Musing on their sudden surge in popularity, Blanc added, “A lot of people identify with crystals because of their positive outlook. It isn’t something dark and gloomy. It is something uplifting. Crystals aren’t gods but, on the other hand, they aren’t as depressing as Oliver North either.”