June Carter Cash Willing to Die for a Diamond Earring

There is not much in the way of information about June Carter Cash's engagement or wedding rings, though Johnny Cash's famous onstage proposal is worth discussing for a moment. They were performing on stage at the London Ice House in London, Ontario, Canada. The story goes that they were singing a duet, "Jackson," and mid-lyric ("We got married in a fever..."), Johnny abruptly stopped singing. Planting his eyes on June, while all other eyes rested upon him, he asked June to marry him. According to her own report, June was scared speechless. She says she just shook her head, not knowing how to respond. He grinned at her until she found her words. Her first words were, "Shut up," and one can only guess this was a response to her family and backup singers who were laughing at her on and off stage. Since Johnny refused to sing again until she responded, she finally said, "Yes." They were married just a few weeks later, probably too swiftly for a true engagement ring. I'm sure wedding rings were exchanged, but I have yet to find a source with such details. However, given the importance of one diamond earring which June wore nearly everywhere, she likely wore it on that day. It is her son, John Carter Cash, who tells the story of this earring in his book Anchored In Love. On a night when their lives hung in the balance, June Carter Cash made a bold move to hide her diamond ring behind the leg of a piece of furniture in their Jamaica home, Cinnamon Hill. Three hoodlums descended upon their evening festivities, holding them at knife- and gunpoint, demanding jewelry and cash to the tune of $3 million. These hoodlums walked away with $5,000 in cash and "all the jewelry, including some exceedingly valuable watches, rings, and gold necklaces" {p. 83}. Taking care to protect their identities and cut the phone lines, the thieves decided to spare the lives of those present and took off in the family's English Rover. Though the burglars were caught, only a small number of the jewels were recovered. One piece that did not need recovery, however, was the diamond earring, which John noticed the next day on his mother's ear where it always lived. In response to her son's inquiry, June responded, "I gave them quite a bit of my jewelry, son, but not this one" {p. 85}. Of course, her son freaked out, chiding her for what he felt was a foolish act on her part. "Some things are worth my life, I guess," she told him {p. 85}. You might suspect that this diamond earring represented a special token of affection from her crooning husband, but that is not the case. Indeed, it was a parting gift from her mother, known colloquially as Mother Maybelle, who left the diamond to June in her will. June had the diamond made into a single earring, which she wore on stage and nearly everywhere else. I can only imagine how much that piece of jewelry, worn so close to her ear, must have in some way represented more than her mother's love. It must have been in some way talismanic, otherwise I don't believe she would have risked her life for it. Ahhh! The power of jewelry!