Ayr 1959

With my Ayr collection woefully thin on the ground this is a welcome addition to the fold. I is one of several colour variations for that year with this one being the yellow and blue version. This one was made by The Jewellery Metal Co of Dublin.

Filey 1959

My first acquisition for some time, this is my new Filey 1959 badge. A two colour badge it is effectively rendered in faux 3D and fairly successful if not a little dull. The badge was made by Reeves and co.

Not dead, just sleeping

I looked in here the other day and almost fell off my chair. I havn’t posted in two months!! I have an excuse however as I haven't added to the collection for two months. This will change soon as I am back in the buying hotseat and have a shiny purchase winging…well crawling…its way to me right now.

Royal Mail willing normal service will resume shortly.

Pwllheli 1964

Staying with the dragon motif for the Welsh resort this is another excellent badge with a particularly mean looking Welsh Red! Made by Reeves.

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2nd Week (Binoculars)

Another second week badge this one is a yellow and blur circular badge with a binocular style motif on it. This one also was made by Reeves.

Pwllheli 1963

What better then the Welsh dragon for this tidy little badge. This one was made by Reeves.

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2nd week (kite)

Another 2nd Week badge, this one is in the shape of a kite and is two coloured. Effective and well presented. This badge was made by Reeves and Co.

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Pwllheli 1948

Not the shiniest of badges this one but a really nice design and an absolute bargain for a 1948 badge clocking in at well under a fiver. A purchase I was very pleased with indeed. Made by Reeves.

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2nd Week (deco)

I’m sure there is a better way to describe this one but the only word I can easily find is Art Deco. Gorgeously simple yet so very effective this badge is very welcome in my collection. Made by the Birmingham Medal and Badge Co.

 

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Christmas 1966

A bit of a first this one. This is the Christmas badge from 1966.Extravagant as badges go this one feature 4 colours and depicts a gargantuan snowman striding across the vista tearing up pine trees. Hang on, that's a bit scary! Made by Gaunt I imagine it was distributed for closed season special events.

Unusually this entry has a dedication and goes out to Andy Gregory who is baffled at my my collection but does love Christmas!

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Filey 1967

With a tried and tested rose design the Filey 1967 badge is extremely attractive. The red and orange colour scheme sparks particularly well, this was another recent acquisition to my collection and a very welcome one at that. This badge was made by Reeves and Co. 

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2nd Week

If you were wealthy enough to spend two weeks with Butlins you could get an extra badge I guess so that the staff knew why you were still lurking around the camp! This is one of my new acquisitions, bought in a batch and I am very pleased with it.

This one is a fine example of the Key in blue and yellow. I believe that this is the only colour variation for this badge and it was made by Fattorini and Sons.

More to come over the next few weeks.

Hiatus

As so often happens with collections of any kind often the desire begins to outstrip the wherewithal to obtain and even with a hobby that can engender low prices as badge collecting often funds run out and with my hectic lifestyle this has occurred… However my significant other has now started work so I have a whole new revenue stream to exploit. Updates will be sporadic still as I have blogged all of my current collection but I have just gained 7 new badges all of which I am extremely pleased with.

My next post will explore the first of these. Barmy isn't dead but is geared down so keep tuned for acquisitions as they occur. As I am now into a hole filling stage expect to see rarer and more expensive acquisitions as my spending increases and my marriage dissolves…

Minehead 2009

Going bang up to date it appears that Butlins have started issuing yearly badges again. This is one kindly donated by a friend and retains the traditional style of the classic badges.

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Bognor Regis 1960 - 1967

Here I present the full run of Bognor Regis badges (excluding variations and replicas) as you can see style varies wildly and three of the main makers of badges for Butlins all get a look in.

This by no means completes my collecting of the Bognor badges as I only have 8 of the 21 camp badges, none of the 11 Committee badges and 2 of the 8 known replica badges. Collecting continues.

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Filey 1946 (U Version)

A new acquisition today this is the fantastic Filey 1946 badge. With a plain blue border and made in brass the badge is gloriously simple. No makers mark is visible. There are two versions of this badge this is the version where the first ray of sun meets the letter u.

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Minehead Collection 1962 - 1967

Here I present my Minehead collection representing one badge for each year of opening in the period 1962 – 1967 .

But wait the quest does not stop there. You see this represents just 25% of the badges labelled Minehead in total there are 24 (not including modern badges). Additionally one of the badges above is actually a replica.

I still need  the 1962 badge and its two concessionary versions, the two concessionary versions for 1962, the brass concessionary for 1963, the brass concessionary for 1966 and the 1967 badge in a colour variation.

PLUS

1962 – 1967s entire run of committee badges.

I’d better keep looking. My premium target is the genuine 1962, just to complete the run.

Coming up: The 8 Bognor years.

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Minehead 1962 Replica

I now have a badge to represent Minehead in every year, a benchmarch for me :D Here is the replica of the 1962 badge that completed it for me. Its a nasty plastic skim style but helps to show what to expect once i get the real one. Which I will. As a replica there is no makers mark.

COMING UP:

A single photo timeline showing the complete Minehead run. Updates will be slower from now on as we have explored most of my existing collection. As I acquire new finds they will be blogged.

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Clacton 1957

This lovely badge depicts a happy child skipping to the sea and depicts everything that makes the seaside great. It WAS in great condition until Royal Mail got their big trotters on it and managed to snap the pin. Thanks Guys. This one was made by The Jewellery Metal Co of Dublin. It survived 52 years intact.

 

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Ayr 1960

A last month I posted a replica Ayr 1960 replica well here we have the real deal. Made by Fattorini it is in great condition and looks so much better then its replica with thicker lines and no horrible plastic skim. A lovely effective 2 tone badge.

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Clacton 1939 Replica

Now this is how to do it. This 1939 replica is in great condition. Not surprising as it really isnt that old at all. It is collectable, fills a gap in my collection that will cost me a lot for the original version and was excellently described on the auction. Everbody wins and I am sure that the seller got a better price simply by building an honest description. No maker for this and it is stamped replica.

Aesthetically I actually find the badge rather lacking and, demand for the item notwithstanding, I certainly will be reluctant to spend a lot on the real thing. I bet it is expensive though.

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Bognor 1964

Here we have the badge for Bognor 1964. A pleasing view of the illuminations with a breakout lamp making the otherwise plain rectangular badge far more interesting. This one was produced by Gaunt and is stamped on the back as such.

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Beaver club 2”

This is real collectors badge, mainly in that only a real collector would want to own the nasty tat! It is a pressed circle with plastic insert. Nasty, big and brash.

No makers mark, after all who would own up to it?

 

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Ayr 1947 Replica 2

Remember i mentioned bad auctions that do not indicate that they are replicas? This is a perfect example. It is a replica of the 1947 badge but unlike the one I blogged HERE this has no acrylic skim and given a poor auction photo could easily pass as the real thing. Luckily its a replica version that I haven’t yet aquired so the 99p spent was fine for the product. When you consider that 1947 is the first run year for the camp somebody could have bid a considerable amount on it without being aware of its nature. The buyer did remember to tick the “new” box in the auction.  Its rather disappointing that people make either so little effort in posting auctions or seek to deliberately mislead buyers. Here is the money shot of the rear showing the big REPLICA stamp so its not even an oversight on the sellers part.

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Beaver Club (Undated)

Here we have a beaver club badge from the latter years of the camp. Production is much cheaper and the image is simply on an inlaid plastic disc rather then enamel or paint. The maker was Fattorini.

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Hurrah! It’s Butlins

A slightly different badge for today's offering. This is a generic multi camp badge, maker unknown. Its a nice simple bit of advertising but unfortunately I know virtually nothing about it! I’m guessing it was either a promotional item or something available to buy? Maybe a visitor can enlighten me?

UPDATE:

Some very helpful input from a reader Skegness Magazine:

Before Butlins opened his Skegness Camp (Ingoldmells) in 1936, he had an amusement park on the central foreshore in Skegness. This was opened in 1930. Strangely enough, the signage to the amusement part had the words "Hurrah! It's Butlins". It's not very clear, but here's a picture of it http://skegnessvideo.com/photos/displayimage.php?...
This gets me wondering if this badge is connected to this early amusement park, pre-dating the holiday camps? The Butlins slogan changed, did it not, when the camps opened? As I said, I'm no expert - just something to ponder...

Here is that image, and yes it does indeed say Hurrah, It’s Butlins. I believe the later slogan was Holidays are Jollydays.

Hurrah it’s Butlins (Modern)

This seems to be a modern reissue of the item I blogged HERE however I would not go so far as to say its a replica as the original was a cut out badge and this is a simple rectangle. It has an acrylic skim and a modern safety clasp. A handsome badge but certainly one that is in the collection purely because it exists.

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Staff (green banner)

Here we have a staff badge, maker unknown, in a lime green. Unfortunately that's about all I know. It does have engraving to the rear which is tricky to make out but may say 107.