Show us the LAPEL PINS

[MondoFW]

Mondo,

No need to argue over it. I don't have any political intentions. I really enjoy reading your posts, you're interesting and very practical. You strike me as the kind of guy who tries his best to be informed and has an excellent hobby.

Something you probably don't know is that I'm studying to eventually become a minister. I have a Masters degree in the area. There are three ways to look at the phrase, "To hell with". It can be literal (as in we ask God to send somebody to hell, a sketchy request at the best of times). It can be metaphorical (we ask God for victory because we determine the enemy to be evil). Thirdly, it can be popular. In that sense, we say we are sick of Hitler, we say "to hell with Hitler" because we casually oppose him, that we consider him a bother.

The expression is not bad. But I think the gravity of WWII was such that people were dying every day, in terrible manners, and saying that Hitler was an annoyance would be to discount their sacrifice.

I have no doubt that Hitler is in hell.

Canadian, thank you for the kind words. I am always a little careful with engaging politically, and I now know you meant no discourse. Your analysis of the pin may be correct, and in that case I'll likely just ditch the pin in mixed company. No harm done.

 

[Canadian]

Mondo,

Something about lapel pins is that having one vintage pin on, once in a while, is fine. But for me, it strikes me as a little bit of a hipster thing to have multiple pins on, or one pin on all the time. Locally, there are girls who go about with 10+ pins attached to their clothing, their purse, etc. I don't like the look.


C.

 

[MondoFW]

Mondo,

Something about lapel pins is that having one vintage pin on, once in a while, is fine. But for me, it strikes me as a little bit of a hipster thing to have multiple pins on, or one pin on all the time. Locally, there are girls who go about with 10+ pins attached to their clothing, their purse, etc. I don't like the look.


C.

I see this as well, they're usually stacked on their backpack. Whenever I don a pin, it's one pin only, and worn on my jacket's lapel. Additionally, I don't always wear the pin, usually for more special occasions.

 

[The Necktie Guy]

Here are some pictures from Etsy listings that I find interesting, and some that I find amusing.

1950's Pepsi-Cola Lapel Pin. Most likely worn by an advertiser back in the day.

Enamel Star Stick Pin

Textured Rhombus in Gold Tone

 

[crawlinkingsnake]

I have read the responses to this "Hitler Pin" and feel the need to put in my two cents worth. Just because something had a skull and cross bones on it does NOT make it a NAZI pin. In fact the only resemblance to the NAZI Totenkopf here is sketchy at best. More than likely, the skull and cross bones were more for a Fraternity marking than anything political. Reference the Yale group called the Skull and Bones. People need to study history more closely. If they had put a Swastika on a Fraternity pin in the 1940s, that would be another thing. A couple of decades earlier than that...good luck symbol! I just fell off my soap box...damn.

Thank you Redfokker for coming to my (our) aid. The pin perhaps in question has absolutely nothing to do with Nazis, Germany, Hitler or anything else along those lines. It's simply what it is... a beloved college fraternity (Tau Kappa Epsilon) that I've been a member since 1970. That's why it's known as "the fraternity for life". If someone tries to read something else into it, that would be a shame. It's a great bunch of guys and after many years we still gather to enjoy football games, fishing, golf, eat BBQ and yes even on occasion drink sometimes large volumes of beer.

 

[Feraud]

Bumping this old thread. Here is a vintage Red Cross Life Saving Corp pin.

 

[Edward]

Anyone who was a kid in the 1960s - early 1970s received one of these on crossing the oceans with Pan Am. I got my first one in 1972. Not exactly a lapel pin but similar in nature nevertheless. By the end of the 1970s they were made in plastic and by the 1980s they were just a paper sticker!

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The Stewardess / Pilot distinction is interesting! I imagine that marks it as of its time. Commercial collectables like that which were never on general sale are always fascinating.

Oh and just for fun

Johnny


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Reminds me of the "Vote Cthulu, because we're all tired of voting for the lesser evil!" pins I saw a few years ago - wish I'd bought one!

I have quite a few pin badges here and there. Most of the ones I wear regularly are modern and political. I also wear some that are very consciously done in an older style - pins the denote my affiliation to The Chap, my membership pins for the New Sheridan Club, and such. I have a couple of reproductions of Irish Transport and General Workers Union badges, including one of the 1913 members badge that was worn at the Dublin Lockout, and a later one from the late 20s depicting the red hand and a phoenix rising from the flames - symbolic of the union born anew after so many of its members died in either French or Irish fields between 1914 and 1923. The genuinely vintage pins I have are mostly motorcycle-related, the earliest dating to the 1960s. All enamel, typical of the 'rocker' scene.

 

[HanauMan]

The Stewardess / Pilot distinction is interesting! I imagine that marks it as of its time. Commercial collectables like that which were never on general sale are always fascinating.

Pan Am introduced a more gender neutral badge for kids in the late 1970s, now a plastic pin instead of pressed metal.

 

[HanauMan]

A trio of plastic pins that I kept from my childhood. The top two came free with breakfast cereals. Can't remember which cereal but I got them about 1972 / 73. The Love is Peace certainly harks back to that period of time and the Wise Quacker pin I wore again decades later when I achieved my degree!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Police Mini Badge Pins