Clacton 1964

Another slightly more stylish badge, This one hits the right buttons for me with shape and colour. The angular style is very effective. The maker for this badge was Fattorini and Sons.

Filey 1954

This is a nice rectangular badge in Green, blue and white and effectively depicts a seagull and boat at sea. Its reasonably effective but fails to be really striking. The green enamelling is really well done. The back is quite tarnished but is in good condition and the badge was made by Fattorini and Sons of Birmingham.

 

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Brighton 1954

A nice simple but effective badge this one, it features white green and blue enamelling. I would like the enamel to be in better condition on this badge though. Made by Fattorini in Birmingham.

Beaver Club 1965

Another new acquisition today, this is a Beaver club badge from 1965 and like the 1966 badge features a clown. This one is a skinny clown however. Its painted like most Beaver Club badges and two tone.  This one was made by Gaunt and is in great condition. More about clowns HERE and the 1966 clown badge is HERE.

Beaver Club

This is an undated beaver club badge, with that in mind I know nothing about it at all. Made by Gaunt and in great condition its a lovely item. It will leave the rest to the pictures.

Clacton 1956

This one, I think, is rather interesting as a badge. Artistic appeal aside (and it does something for me but I'm not sure what) it is a very interesting and bold attempt to change the style to a more physical rather then visual one. The badge itself is pressed with curves and flourishes and consists of just 2 colours. If they were a little bolder i would love this badge but the orange and yellow is insipid and does nothing to enhance the brave shapsing. It’s a shame really as with a colour variation such as the rich reds and yellows used to such effect on Bognor 1966 it would be wonderful. This one was made by the Jewellery Co of Dublin.

2nd Week

One of my more distressed badges for you today. This is a second week badge given to those more affluent that can spend a bit longer then the common man. Undated unfortunately. This badge was made by Gaunt

Clacton 1962

This is one of my recent acquisitions and a really nice addition. It is the Clacton 1962 badge showing a lamp obviously the illuminations were big in ‘62. made by Gaunt again this is another one in great condition.

 

Badges For Sale

I am currently listing some of my duplicate badges on eBay so this may be a chance to fill gaps in personal collections.

MY EBAY AUCTIONS

Of direct interest to this blog are two Minehead 1964 badges and the 1966 Beaver badge I posted yesterday (yes I now have two!!)

As always pictures say 1000 words, everything starts at 99p so maybe you could even start your collection here? Its a cheap hobby (honest, until you add the cumulative cost!)

End of sales pitch…

Beaver Club 1966

I was having a poke around in a box yesterday and to my great joy I discovered three badges that I had not realised I had. I’m guessing they were bought at the end of my last collecting period just before I lost the finances and the urge to continue.

This one depicts a clown (shudder) and is painted rather then enamelled and is in good condition. Made by Gaunt its a great little badge…if you ignore the clown bit (more about this on my main blog Reviewed at Random)

Butlins Bognor 1961

Here we have another Bognor Badge from my collections this one being 1961. Its a quite effective depiction of a parasol on a beach with the three colours and the badge shape used to great effect. This one is in great condition and stamped on the back F & S being Fattorini and Sons. A nice simple and effective badge.

Skegness 1964

In every run of fantastic badges there is always a pig, one that does not do the others justice.

Ladies and gentlemen I give you Skegness 1964. A badge that is a real pig. If they all looked this bad then nobody would bother collecting Butlins Badges at all. As you may have guessed I'm not keen on this one at all. Its lazy and not at all innovative. This was made by Fattorini and Sons.

Ireland (Mosney) 1960

A double bonus on today's blog entry. This is a 1960 Ireland badge, my only badge from Ireland and as I found out one I hadn’t logged on my “Big list o’ badges”. Ireland seems to be oddly rare in the world of Butlins, odd because it seems to have been a popular camp with lots of colour variation in the latter years. Maybe I should start trawling ebay.ie? This badge was produced (aptly enough) by the Jewellery Metal Co. of Dublin.

 

Staff badge 1957

Of course it wasn’t just the punters that had badges. Here is an example of a staff badge of 1957. The camp and maker are unknown but we do know this was staff member 32 as it is stamped on the rear.

Bognor Regis (Modern)

So I decide to let my daughter pick the badge for today. We have a wholly unexciting and generic modern badge for Bognor. It does nothing to capture the style and ethos of the original and im pretty sure is a shop bought retail product. That adide it is pretty but certainly fails in the flowing juices department.

Filey 1958

Todays offering is a Filey 1958 badge. This one is a slightly more exotic looking badge based on a classic English rose. Three coloured and in great condition its was mad by Reeves of Birmingham.

Clacton 1965

Here is a good example of how an essentially simple badge can still be eye-catching and very effective. Made by Morton T. Colver for the 1965 holiday season this three colour badge is simple in the extreme but for some reason works in a way Minehead 1967 failed to for me. I nice simple motif.

Skegness 1958

Today's offering is a Skegness 1958 pin. Its a three colour badge and is technically fine. For some reason i find it strangely unpleasing though. I don't know if it is the odd choice of green for the fish or the way it doesn't really seem to be in context with the badge i don't know but this certainly is a badge I have for completeness rather then because I like it. Maker is (deliberately?) anonymous.

Skegness 1959

I cant help but think that there must of been some kind of economy drive in force at Butlins in 1959 as this badge is absolutely tiny. Despite being just two colours however it is still a very nice piece and its dinkyness adds to its attraction.

The badge is in almost pristine condition and was made by Reeves of Birmingham.

Filey 1948

It’s rather sad to get enthused about a badge I know, especially one as tatty and distressed as this one but… well… look at it and tell me that it isn’t a thing of beauty.

Issued in 1948 this badge is a work of art and one that for me defines just why i collect these things. Art, often for under a tenner. This one is Reeves of Birmingham product and is stamped as such on the rear.

As a side note. I will attempt to continue daily updates on this blog but for some reason both Live Writer AND the blogger website are being sod in different ways. Hopefully it will resolve but I don't know what is up.

Minehead 1964

A week or so ago I posted about the Minehead 1967 badge (READ ABOUT IT HERE) which I though was rather disappointing in design. As a comparison here is the 1964 badge which illustrate my disappointment at the lacklustre effort.

This one is a Gaunt badge and is stamped on the back as such.

Bognor 1960 and Replica 1960

Hers a quick comparison for you, all of my badges have been bought from eBay as it is a brilliant resource for these at at the moment It certainly fills all my meagre needs (this may change if i ever get more discerning.)

Here is a very bad eBay style picture of two badges. One is real and one is replica. Normally you don't get to compare the two side by side but I’m feeling generous today.

Which is a genuine 49 year old badge, which is a more recent replica? In this case the badge is very common so price differences are not that huge, however some badges are very rare indeed and buying a replica when you are after the real thing may be a very costly mistake.

As I am feeling generous here is a better picture.

Any the wiser?

Time to talk about the badges anyway. This is a fantastic little design, the 1st pennant reflects that this was the opening year for Bognor which has had some very nice designs over its 7 year badge issuing period. The original was made by W. Reeves of Birmingham and the replica is stamped replica on the rear. The job of spotting it is made harder by the fact that there is no acrylic skim on this issue so cosmetically it is very similar to the real thing.

Ok here's the answer. Or rather here's how to work it out. The original is likely to show more wear to to metal and will not look quite as symmetrical or perfect as the replica. The original badges were more often silver in colour. The real test is the rear. The real badge will have a pin with two points of joining, the replica will have a single piece pin mechanism normally of a safety type. The real giveaway is the big REPLICA stamped on the back of course. Sadly few ebayers thing to photograph the back of a badge but if it doesn't state replica in the auction you may have a recourse to return or complain.

If you bought the badge on the left congratulations…its a replica.

Pwllheli 1958

Now here is an example of a beautifully detailed and intricate badge that only uses 3 colours. Made by Gaunt it depicts a Welsh Dragon on an orange background. All of the colours are vibrant and this is a real gem in my collection. Pin is intact and there is a small degree of tarnish on the rear but if it wasn't dated 1958 you would never guess it is over 50 years old.