Thursday, July 8, 2010

Vintage Thingie Thursday: Costume Critters


Vintage Thingie Thursday is hosted by Suzanne at Coloradolady, and as she says, "Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone." Please visit her blog to find out more about VTT or to participate yourself.

I don't usually wear much costume jewelry, so it's a little odd that I've ended up with a fairly large collection of the stuff. Most of it was given to me by family or friends, and I've just hung on to it over the years. Today (for my first Vintage Thingie Thursday post in many months), I thought I'd share a few of my "critter" pins. Some of these are just about the only pieces in the collection that I actually do wear from time to time. The butterfly at the top left of the photo is a stick pin and is unmarked. The one on the right, with the two pearls, is marked Winard on the back. Each one is around a half-inch wide, and both date probably from the late 1950s to early 1960s. (Click on photos to enlarge.)


I think these little enameled honeybee scatter pins are probably the oldest pieces in the crowd. They date from the late 1940s or early 1950s and are unmarked, as far as I can make out. They're each less than a half inch wide, and I used to wear them all in a bunch on sweaters.


This blue and white flying bug is another unmarked pin. It's about an inch and a quarter wide, from wing tip to wing tip. It probably dates from the late 1950s.

I do wear these frogs occasionally. The larger one is almost two inches long, from his nose, to the the tip of his toe. They date from (I believe) around 1960, and they're marked Denicola.

I think this owl is my favorite of this group. He's a little over an inch tall, and he's marked Coro on the back. He was a gift from my Aunt Linnie. She worked most of her life as a costume jewelry buyer for several large department stores, and a lot of my collection has come down to me from her. I don't know how old this one is, but I know I used to wear it when I was in elementary school, so he's getting pretty ancient now!

14 comments:

  1. Hi! I just joined this VTT party and I love your vintage pins. I agree that your owl is the best one but all of them are quite special! ~olive

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  2. Hi,
    I like the frog pins the best! You truly have a lovely collection, especially for one who doesn't really wear costume jewelery. Have a great Vintage Thursday.

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  3. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Welcome to Vintage Thingie Thursday, it's one of my favorite parties. I really enjoyed seeing your collection of pins. I remember seeing my Mom wear some.

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  4. You have a very nice pin collection. I have a few like this as well. I do not wear them as much anymore, but we should. They are too pretty to just let lay around.

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  5. What a great collection you have! I adore your bees and your owl especially. So much fun!

    Happy VTT,
    Sally

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  6. Such cute pins! I love the owl....I think my mom might have had one like that! Have a great VTT!

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  7. You've got a very interesting collection here.

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  8. I love your cute pins even though I don't like actually wearing jewelry.

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  9. Great collection. The frog is very cute. I have some pieces that I inherited or people gave me, but I tend to just keep them in their jewelry box. I should pull them out and find a way to display them.

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  10. Oh wow, such a great collection. They are all so darling in the own ways, but that owl is definitely my favorite.

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  11. Joy, those are SO cute! I love them!

    I have a fox that was my mother's, but the one I found recently is a little skunk. I'd never seen one before. He's so cute.

    Loved this post...

    XO,

    Sheila :-)

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  12. I commented on this post but it didn't post....hmmm.

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  13. Thanks, everyone, for the kind words.

    B-B--
    Yes, I've been having a lot of trouble with comments lately. Sometimes people can't post their comments on my blog, and sometimes I can't post comments on other blogs. Strange, but there's a lot of chatter about comment problems in the help group, so I guess I'm not alone. But it's very frustrating.

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  14. I enjoy the whimsey and beautiful design of your pins...what a lovely collection!

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