✅ SOLVED Help with mid 1800s farm house Pendant or Pin

[deadbird.81]

Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

I found this Sunday at a mid to late 1800s farm house. My buddy also found one but it was bent in half. Theres a clean spot in it where I rubber it with a cloth and soap. That spot looks to be silver or maybe pewter. There is a crook and key crossed over a bundle of hay theres also a sickle. Any help would be appreciated.
Before cleaning

After cleaning

 

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[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

One new idea and one revisited one ...

1. New: Robe/Cloak pin.

Court Robes—White with proper colored trimmings: Yellow for Ceres, green for Pomona, and pink for Flora. Ladies may, if desired, wear sunbonnets pushed back from the face. The use of different colored court robes for each degree is optional with the Grange. The Master will declare a recess for a few moments to prepare the room for initiatory ceremony. (Rituals/ceremonies involving (sometimes hooded) robes/cloakes were less seldom and somewhat secretive). Has anyone come across an original Grange photograph of someone wearing a robe? I haven't!

2. Revisited: Sash pin.

Notice the Grange member in the illustration below and the crossed-over sash he is wearing. No visible pin, but I wonder? (On April 10, 1849, Walter Hunt was granted US patent #6,281 for his invention of the safety pin).

Whatever the item was used for, there must have been a lot fewer of them made/used than the hundreds of other ribbon-type pins we've seen.

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[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

I received a reply this morning from a member of the National Grange Organization. Here is her copy/pasted message (plus my reply back to her).

~ * ~

Mr. Brown,

It does appear to be a Grange Pendant that we once had, but we can’t be absolutely sure. The Farmers Union and other farming organizations, which are no longer in existence, also used some of our symbols. So it is hard to tell without the P of H on it to verify 100% that it is ours. The only thing I can tell you, is that it was used to attach ribbons to for various local Grange events and National Sessions.

I hope this helps in some way, please let me know if you have any more questions.

Samantha

Samantha Johnson
Sales, Benefits, and Programs Director
National Grange
1616 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 888-447-2643 ext. 109
Fax: 202-347-1091

[My Reply]

Samantha ~

Thank you for the information. It is very helpful. I suspect you may be correct that the pin could be related to some organization other than the Patrons of Husbandry / Grange. About 99% of the ribbon-type pins I have seen in my research almost always have either the P of H on them or the handshake image. I will continue my research along the course you suggested regarding Farmers Unions. I will let you know if I find anything that will positively identify the pin. If you don't hear from me, it simply means that I was unsuccessful. During the course of my previous research I have discovered that your organization has a rich history and one to be proud of.

Thank you again for assisting me.

Sincerely,

Bob Brown

~ * ~

Note: I took a quick look around regarding Farmers Unions, and found some conflicting information and dates. The certificate shown below is dated 1894, and yet the official National Farmers Union was not established until 1902. So there may have been numerous Farmers Unions. But irregardless, this may be a lead worthy of additional research.

1902: National Farmers Union is founded by grassroots farmers concerned with stability and farm income. One newspaperman, one county clerk, one physician, one country schoolteacher, and six farmers. By Political party: Three Populist, one Socialist, one Independent, and five Democrats. Lee Seamster, first NFU president. Newt Gresham, founder.

http://www.nfu.org/about-nfu/history

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[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

Samantha just sent me this final reply ...

Mr. Brown,

You are more than welcome and I wish you luck in your search.

Samantha

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

This may help during the course of additional research. It was sent to me by deadbird.81 via a PM ...

It was found in Fayette County, PA. The town was Smithfield

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

The bottom pisture is of a 1926 Grange catalog. The answer to our mystery may be in one of those old catalogs. If I/we can just figure out how to access the contents.

I looked in the 1894 Wholesale Supply catalog but didnt see anything.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

Thanks Cy. That helps.

At first glance, the items shown below may seem unrelated. But I still thought they were just interesting enough to share.

Notice the similarity of the image on the pin with the image on the photo case. Also notice on the photo case the image of a sickle in the upper right hand corner, and a small wheat sheave on the lower left. Plus, the inside of the case has what appears to be a wheat sheave or vase of flowers looking image. Is the image on the pin and the image on the outside of the case the same? And is there a connection here of some kind? Or am I just "dreaming" again? I'm not sure either! I can't make out if those are words or something else on the case. The case is described as follows ...

Sixth plate union case "The Farmer's Dream" (Krainik-138). Case contains ambrotype photo of a man.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

deadbird.81 ~

Nothing - Nada - Zilch!

I researched various farm unions, and there are a ton of them, but I could not find a single instance where your exact symbol was used by any of them. The majority of the unions used symbols similar to the ones below of a plow - hoe - and rake. I even came across a court case from 1957 where one union was battling another union for copyright infringements involving the use of just such a symbol. Which suggest that most organizations, including the P of H Grange, were highly protective of their logos.

So unless your pin is from some small, obscure farm organization, I still believe the evidence points to it as being Grange related, despite the fact that it does not have the P of H on it. Exactly what it was used for we may never know. But if we go with the majority rule again, then the evidence suggest it as being some type of ribbon pin, minus the ribbon.

In a nutshell, and for lack of a better description, my personal opinion is that the item is simply a ...

51% Grange Pin ~ 49% Some other type of pin

... with a whole lot of question marks on either side of it!

Thanks for providing us with such a fun challenge. I enjoy this sort of thing and look forward to your next "What Is It?"

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[ Typical Farm Union Symbols ]

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

P.S. ~

If interested in doing additional research, you might try contacting one of these ...

Pennsylvania State Grange:

http://www.pagrange.org/

Fayette County Granges:

http://www.pagrange.org/JOIN_THE_GRANGE_FAYETTE.HTM

And especially this lady ...

Secretary:

PATRICIA SMITH (724) 564-4658
106 SLEEPY HOLLOW RD
SMITHFIELD, PA. 15478-8906

 

[deadbird.81]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

The Fayette County Fair starts this week and I'm sure the Grange will have a booth there. I'm going to just take it to them and see if anyone knows what it is. Hopefully she will be there.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

So unless your pin is from some small, obscure farm organization, I still believe the evidence points to it as being Grange related, despite the fact that it does not have the P of H on it. Exactly what it was used for we may never know. But if we go with the majority rule again, then the evidence suggest it as being some type of ribbon pin, minus the ribbon.

I was hoping you would find an exact match. I knew what is was as soon as I saw the wheat sheath, sickle etc. because we have had Grange related items posted here before. Some of them remain unidentified.
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,333482.0.html

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,65972.0.html

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,236321.0.html

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

Cy ~

Interesting stuff. Unless I missed something, I didn't see a confirmed date on the medallion type item shown below. If it pre-dates 1876, when the P of H Grange was established, then it might be where the Grange and other types of farm organizations "borrowed" the idea for their own symbols/logos.

For some strange and unexplainable reason, the horse jumping over the fence on the backside of the medallion looks like something from England to me.

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[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

Cy ~

Interesting stuff. Unless I missed something, I didn't see a confirmed date on the medallion type item shown below.

It remains unidentified but 2 members found them. NH and Maine. I was hoping you may have seen one in your farm organizations research.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

Check it out!

Item Description:

This is a old Patrons of Husbandry Medal Ceremonial Badge.
Measures 2 7/8 inches across.
A great piece of history for any collection.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...akeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

Check it out!

Item Description:

This is a old Patrons of Husbandry Medal Ceremonial Badge.
Measures 2 7/8 inches across.
A great piece of history for any collection.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...akeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

My computers on the blink so I may not post much more but it looks close enough for me. I wonder if it had a ribbon?

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

The double-rod on the back appears to be where a ribbon was and/or could have been attached at one time. It was just listed on e-bay yesterday, and explains why no one saw it until now.

Bidders:0 Bids:0 Time left:5 days 19 hours 42 mins Duration:7 days

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[trikikiwi]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

Wow, Well done on that find, SodaBob
Very close to the original find.
I look forward to continuing to follow this discussion.
Cheers, Mike

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

trikikiwi ~

Thanks. I contacted the e-bay seller to inquire if the "badge" has a manufacturers mark on it that isn't visible in their pictures. I also scrolled through their list of about 400 other items, most of which are old coins, but the P of H pin was the only farm related item they showed. I will post their reply here when I hear back from them.

The pin is obviously not identical to deadbird's, but surely there is a connection of some kind between the two. It could be like Samantha said; that some other farm organization borrowed the image for a pin of their own. I intend to contact Samantha eventually and let her know what I found. She may even have some insights or comments related to the e-bay pin. But I am going to wait until the auction closes before contacting her so she doesn't bid on it, as I plan to bid on it myself if it doesn't go too high.

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[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

I just received a reply from the e-bay seller. Here is what they had to say ...

"I do not see any manufacturers marks on it. A magnet does NOT stick to it."

- 13790estates

 

[deadbird.81]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

No mahnet sticks to mine either. That is also some great research Bob! I believe it was intended for the same purpose as the one on ebay but by which group I'm not sure. I'm gonna have to go back and hit that yard again.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Re: Help with mid 1800's farm house Pendant or Pin

deadbird.81 ~

Thanks.

Part of my obsessive interest in your item has prompted me to try and determine not only what it is, but also who made it and when? But as there are no makers marks on it, this may be extremely difficult, if not impossible to do. However, we do know from Mojjax's earlier post that his pin was made by "The Whitehead & Hoag Co." who were "first organized under New Jersey laws in 1892."

During the course of my ongoing research, which has involved looking at hundreds of Grange/P of H items, the pin shown below is "the only one" I have seen that gives any clue whatsoever as to "who" made it. The pictures are a little blurry because the pin was photographed inside of a plastic bag, but the seller gives the following description of the item and what it has printed on the back ...

This is an old pin for Juvenile Grange P H, the pin measures 3/4 inch in diameter. On the back it says "Bainbridge Badges & Buttons Syracuse, N Y."

So I did a little research on this company. Although I haven't found very much so far, it does appear they were around at least as early as 1898 and are still in business today.

But more than anything, what really sparked my interest regarding this company was their use of the term "BADGE." More and more I am seeing references to this word, and am beginning to think this may be the proper term most often used. This may seem like an insignificant observation, but I have discovered that the more specific a Google search can be, the more specific the results will be. Thus my new description of the item ...

~ Grange Related Pinback Ribbon Badge ~

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Here's the e-bay link for the item pictured below ...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Juvenil...0&hash=item4cf8b2ed6d&clk_rvr_id=249410791023



We may never know by who or when the badge was made, but this "may" be a clue.

" Bainbridge Badges & Buttons Syracuse, N Y."