Badge
Design
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Badge Design |
Maybe
the best way is to sort through those you already have to see if some
kind of theme is emerging. Many people like to buy a souvenir badge
when they visit a famous place. Not only do these make a fascinating
collection, they are a constant reminder of happy jaunts.
Museums,
theme parks, zoos, stately homes, places of interest, seaside
resorts, even theatres, sell badges. If you're interested in the
stage, a collection of badges commemorating famous shows would be
unusual, and would surely increase in value. Lloyd Webber musicals
such as Phantom of the Opera and Cats have commemorative badges for
sale at the box office.
Perhaps
you're a member of a club. Most societies want their members to
identify each other, so whether you collect stamps, breed rabbits,
grow cacti or keep tropical fish, you have probably been issued with
a club badge.
In the 1920s thousands of
children joined the Wilfredian League of Gugnuncs, a 'secret society'
inspired by the Daily Mails cartoon characters Pip, Squeak and
Wilfred.
The thirties had them flocking
to join the Ovaltineys League, while the fifties saw the growth of
the News Chronicle I-Spy Tribe, ruled over by Big Chief I-Spy
himself. All these clubs had badges.
Holiday camps such as Butlins
and Warners used to run clubs for both adults and children, and pass
badges were issued which permitted holiday-makers to use the bar or
pool.
Advertising badges are another
large field and should be free - manufacturers are only too eager
for their products to be publicised. Exhibitions and trade fairs are
the best places to obtain these. Or how about cartoon characters?
They would make an interesting
collection, especially if you could get hold of badges depicting
characters which aren't so popular now, such as Felix the Cat, Roland
Rat or Andy Pandy.
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Badge Design |
Important events such as royal
weddings, exhibitions, space flights, elections, and, of course, the
millennium, are commemorated by badges. Sports enthusiasts are spoilt
for choice - all teams want their supporters to show their loyalty by
wearing a badge. You could assemble a stunning collection based
around one particular sport: football, tennis, cricket or sailing.
If you're a pop music fan,
then a collection of badges would be a great slice of musical
history.
Bands
come and go regularly, and famous names are soon forgotten.
Psychedelic badges dating from the sixties are now classics. Some
people collect military or automobile badges, but these are expensive
and beyond the scope of this article.
Train enthusiasts go for those
beautiful enamelled badges in the shape of engines. Some of these are
miniature works of art, in glowing shades of red, green gold and
blue.
They
look wonderful pinned to one of those peaked 'railwayman's' hats -
though a large collection might get a bit heavy and give you a bad
headache! Other possible themes are bears, slogans, cats, food,
shapes, bikes, space, royalty, occupations or dance.
Practically
every subject has a relevant badge.
Many
people collect the famous Robertson's golly badges. These have been
sold since the thirties, and some of the early ones are now
expensive, but you can still get the later ones cheaply. They are
very attractive as most are golly-shaped and enamelled, rather than
being just a plain metal disc.
There
are all kinds of gollies, including footballers, knights,
milkmen,policemen, cyclists and ballet dancers. If you save the
tokens on the jars of jam, you can send to the company for the latest
issues.
Charity
badges are a growing field, and the beauty of these is that not only
can you build up an interesting collection, you have the satisfaction
of knowing you're helping out a good cause. Amongst them are the
Variety Club's gold hearts, which have been issued each February
since 1991.
Each
year the design changes slightly, and the earliest are becoming quite
collectable. Look out too for Pudsey Bear's Children In Need, Great
Ormond Street, RSPCA, NSPCC, Lifeboats and Scope.
A growing trend is for
charities to offer artificial flowers, rather than conventional
badges. Also nowadays, many of the traditional printed metal badges
have been supplanted by enamelled shapes.
In years to come a common or
garden round metal pin-on badge may well be a rarity - just as the
old- fashioned paper badges on a pin which eager charity collectors
once jabbed into your lapel, have become a thing of the past.
No doubt you've received age
badges on your birthday. When you're small, you're proud to wear a
badge which proclaims 'It's my birthday. I'm four today'. By the time
you're in your teens you're not normally so keen! Age badges, however
naff they might look pinned to your jumper, can form a marvellous
collection - you could try to get one of each number up to a hundred,
for instance.
The first 21 should be easy,
and the milestones such as 30, 50 or 75, but many other numbers will
be much more difficult to find. Another good way with numeric badges
is to collect just one number - your lucky number or your door number
- and to see how many variations you can find.
Perhaps
the most coveted of badges are those that money can't buy, such as
the famous Blue Peter badges, which need to be won by achievement.
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Badge Design |
Badges
can be bought practically everywhere - try rummaging through the junk
boxes on market stalls and at boot fairs. Charity shops normally have
badge bargains, and they only charge pence. Gift shops, card shops
and music shops have good selections too. As soon as friends know
you're collecting, you'll be inundated with badges.
It's
even possible to create your own with the aid of a badge-making
machine, to give you something really unique. Often these machines
are an attraction at fetes.
Most badges cost under a pound,
so if you're looking for something to collect that won't break the
bank, why not consider a themed badge collection?
They offer tremendous scope for
display, looking terrific glued to a hessian covered board, mounted
under a glass table top or pinned to a large cushion.
Badges Design are colourful, cheap
and collectable - what more could you want?
Collectibles Coach
Collectibles Coach
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