Pins and Brooches
Jewelry on display can be enjoyed every day.
I have always been a collector of pins and brooches from my preteen-years right up to the present. Looking back through old photographs and yearbooks I see many of the pins I still have and love to wear. One of the best things about this collection is the wearing but they also are fun to display as art. Along with my own pins I have many that belonged to my grandmother and my mother.
When Madeline Albright was Secretary of State she became famous for her pin collection; writing a book about her collection and its meaning. Her book is entitled Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box. When the collection went on a national tour, I was able to attend. I thought “great minds think alike!”
This is the first pin I can remember wearing ... as a pre-teen ...probably 1954 or 1955.
I wore this BSK dragon pin in the mid 1950s. BSK was a popular brand of the 1950s.
Here I am wearing the dragon pin in the 1961 yearbook
I have had this BSK gold flower pin since the mid 1950s.
I have owned this beautiful jeweled Weiss blue and green leaf pin and matching earrings since the late 1950s. I wore them with a soft blue wool dress that I made.
I wore this pin of cherries often in spring and summer from the 1950s and I still love it.
This pink daisy is from the mid 1950s and was always a favorite. In the 1960s I loved wearing this daisy on a pretty pink Villager dress with the typical pin-tucked bodice and little collar.
Enameled flower pins were very popular in the 1950s and I think they may be making a come back. The yellow and aqua daisies belonged to my mother and the pink and white pins were mine.
1950s pins ... The large pin is a Monet I bought in about 1958 or 1959. In the 1950s shirt collars were often buttoned to the top and pinned with a narrow collar pin. I wore the two gold and pearl collar pins often. The dragon and the flower pins are BSK, a popular brand. The key is an Accessocraft brand, also popular in the 50's. Circle pins were very, very popular and every girl had one.
Stick pins, also popular, were great for pinning a scarf in place.
My stick pins
This large Monet pin is my favorite of all time. My mother and I saw it in 1960 and instantly loved it ... but what a big price tag it had ... ten dollars! We decided to get it and I have loved wearing it often during every decade since then.
Senior class officers of 1961 ... the Monet pin!
Over the years I have collected a wonderful group of Monet pins.
This is a dramatic large acrylic orchid pin ... from the 1960s.
Collection of bead and sequin pins
At the top is a beautiful unsigned jeweled pin that is from the 1960s. The blue and green leaf and matching earrings are Weiss from the late 1950s. I bought the large pink jeweled pin in the mid 1960s to wear on a pink satin formal dress that I made to wear to a special banquet with my future husband. I wore the beautiful Weiss green flower pin and the unsigned earrings with a green silk dress. The little Weiss strawberry is from the early 1960s and has always been a favorite of mine that I still wear.
The pink jeweled pin ... 1964
I have always loved cameos. The pin at the top is the oldest; it is a Winard brand pin that is 12 K gold filled.
Pearl and gold 1928 pins
A favorite tassel pin
Silver pins ... the feather is a Coro pin and the leaf is an Emmons about 1960
Some of my gold pins ... the large round pin on the left if a Dauplaise brand pin. The other pins are unsigned. My sister gave me the small flower.
I have this little pillow with some of my favorite small pins in my bedroom. I like to enjoy seeing them every day ... like art.
I collected a small Weiss strawberry to wear with my 1960s larger strawberry.
Modern-day Jeweled pins. The two small pins are Liz Claiborne.
Monet pin with matching earrings
Napier calla lily pin and earrings
I inherited these pins from my mother. The large dogwood blossom and the small gold with pearl pins are Trifari. The humming bird and the two purple jeweled pins are the 1928 brand. The long gold feather is Monet. The small crown with green stones is a VAN S Authentics from the 1960s. The large gold curved feather is Coro. The other pins are unsigned. I always loved the small gold pearl and tassel pin; it was one of my mother's favorites and dates from the 1950s or possibly earlier.
A stunning enameled Vendome pin that belonged to my mother. Vendome was a higher priced line of Coro jewelry ... probably from the 1970s.
Gold and pearl unsigned pin that belonged to my mother.
My mother's little initial pin with amethyst stone ... currently pinned to the coat on one of my daughters.
It is fun to see old favorites being treasured and worn today.
I collected a small Trifari dogwood blossom to wear along with my mother's larger pin.
A beautiful Coro jeweled brooch and matching screw-on earrings that belonged to my grandmother ... probably from the 1940s.
Beautiful antique pins that belonged to my grandmother... 1881-1957. Large Black wire and rhinestone pin is not signed. The jeweled brooch and matching earrings are Coro ... probably the 1940s. The small silver marcasite collar pin has unfortunately lost most of it's stones which are actually small pieces of pyrite set in silver. The pearl collar pin is still lovely and desirable. Below is a Bakelite pin. The little gold watch belonged to my aunt who died in 1937 ... her name is engraved on the back. The watch pin is a Carl Art pin that dates from the 1930's. The tiny orange pin is no more than an inch in diameter, probably Bakelite. I chanced to find the matching earrings at an antique mall!
My grandmother wearing the pearl pin in the 1950s.
Collection of small 1928 pins and earrings ... 1980s
Two beautiful rhinestone brooches that belonged to my grandmother and then to my mother. I was told they were Eisenberg Ice.
Can you ever have too many pins?
Club pins that span elementary school, high school and college ... all bring pleasant memories.
Black cat pin that belonged to my mother and now belongs to one of her granddaughters.
A very large stick pin that is impressive on a coat or jacket.
Reproduction brooches from the Madeline Albright pin show ... Owl and a tree