American Fraternity, College, Military Badge/Pin Makers

[dognose]

THE ROBBINS Co.

Attleboro, Massachusetts



The Chas. M. Robbins Co. - Attleboro, Mass. - 1908



The Robbins Co. - Attleboro, Mass. - 1919



The Robbins Company - Attleboro, Mass. - 1920



The Robbins Company - Attleboro, Mass. - 1923


Chas. M. Robbins Co. marks - 1904

Established in 1892 by Charles M. Robbins, who, in 1904, was joined by Ralph Thompson, who took over the company in 1910.




See: http://www.925-1000.com/americansilver_R3.html

Trev.

[dognose]

EAGLE REGALIA COMPANY

115, Nassau Street, New York



Eagle Regalia Company - New York - c.1930




Eagle Regalia Company - New York - c.1930



Eagle Regalia Company - New York - c.1930



Eagle Regalia Company - New York - c.1930



Eagle Regalia Company - New York - c.1930



Eagle Regalia Company - New York - c.1930



Eagle Regalia Company - New York - c.1930



Eagle Regalia Company - New York - c.1930



Eagle Regalia Company - New York - c.1930



Eagle Regalia Company - New York - c.1930



Eagle Regalia Company - New York - c.1930



Eagle Regalia Company - New York - c.1930

Established in 1910 and still in business today.

Trev.

[dognose]

L. KRICHBAUM & COMPANY

Providence, R.I.



L. Krichbaum & Company - Providence, R.I. - 1921

Trev.

[dognose]

J.W. RICHARDSON & Co.

1, Maiden Lane, New York



J.W. Richardson & Co. - New York - 1920



J.W. Richardson & Co. - New York - 1920

Trev.

[dognose]

RICHARD HEMSLEY

St. James Street, Montreal







Richard Hemsley was born at Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England on the 16th July 1846. After serving his apprenticeship in England he left for Canada and founded his business in 1870. His business still survives today. Following Hemsley's reign, the firm passed into the Herman family, and then to Nathan Hennick who acquired the business in the early 1960's.

Trev.

[dognose]

A.H. FETTING

14 & 16, St. Paul Street, later, 231, North Liberty Street and 22, Little Sharp Street, Baltimore



A.H. Fetting - Baltimore - 1898



A.H. Fetting - Baltimore - 1899



A.H. Fetting - Baltimore - 1900



A.H. Fetting - Baltimore - 1902



A.H. Fetting - Baltimore - 1905



A.H. Fetting - Baltimore - 1915



A.H. Fetting Manufacturing Jewelry Co. - Baltimore - 1920



A.H. Fetting - Baltimore - 1921



A.H. Fetting - Baltimore - 1921

Established in 1873.


The K. A. button (or pin) authorized by the convention is not designed to be a substitute for the badge. It is to be worn by the member who, for one reason or another, has not yet obtained a badge. Its low price (one dollar) puts it in the reach of everyone. Members of Alpha Lambda find it useful in addition to the badge, wearing the latter attached to the vest, and the button outside on the lapel of the coat. Thus when the coat is buttoned up and the badge is hid, the K. A. symbol is still displayed. Members of other chapters who give their badges to the "sister" to wear, themselves wear the K. A. button. The Order is in this kept in evidence among the collegiates. The "sister" is happy and the world knows her "brother" when it sees him.

When the button comes into general use it is expected to be particularly serviceable as a means of recognition among K. A.'s when traveling. It is easily distinguished at a distance. The crimson cross pattee, with the letters "K. A.," on a background of white, attracts attention. Alumni will, it is believed, wear the button to a much greater extent than they have been accustomed to wear the badge. The size is seven sixteenths of an inch square. The buttons are made by A. H. Fetting, 14 St. Paul street, Baltimore, who will supply any member sending him one dollar.

Source: The Kappa Alpha Journal - 1893


PENNYWEIGHTER' SENTENCED

Rothery, Alias "McClelland," Goes to Prison for Four Years for Jewelry Theft in Baltimore

Baltimore, Md., Nov. 18.–After a long series of court battles Herbert M. Rothery, 64 years old, alias "Henry McClelland," known in police circles as the "international pennyweighter," was sentenced to four years in the Maryland Penitentiary, here, Wednesday, by Judge Charles F. Stein, of the Criminal Court. Rothery was tried and convicted a month ago of the theft of jewelry valued at $1,400 from the A. H. Fetting Manufacturing Jewelry Co. Rothery, according to Detective Lieutenant Charles A. Kahler, is now under indictment in Syracuse, N. Y., for the theft of jewelry valued at $4,000.

Rothery has a police record dating back to 1886, according to Detective Kahler. He was arrested here three years ago, after disposing of a quantity of jewelry. He was released on bail and when his case was called to trial he did not respond. Subsequently he was arrested in St. Louis, Mo., and was brought here by Detective Kahler.

Rothery has powerful friends in New York and Chicago. Through these friends ready bail was forthcoming whenever he was arrested. Rothery's record is well known to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. For many years he has been recognized as one of the most dangerous thieves operating against the jewelers of the country.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 22nd November 1922



Fetting to close its doors Jewelry store opened in Baltimore in 1873

April 12, 1991|By Michael Pollick

It started on Sept. 1, 1873, when 20-year-old Anton H. Fetting set up shop at 8 E. German St., specializing in the custom manufacturing of jewels.

It will begin winding down next week, with a going-out-of-business sale starting next Friday as the Towson Town Center's A. H. Fetting jewelry company closes after 118 years as a family-owned business.

John H. "Jack" Fetting Jr., who has run the business since his father died in 1957, says he is nearly 68 years old and is "blessed with children whose distinctions abound in other fields."

If he stayed on at Towson Town, Mr. Fetting said, he would have to negotiate a new long-term lease and remodel his store.

"If I were 47 or 57 I would do it without question, because I have confidence in the expansion that is under way here."

The shopping center is undergoing a huge expansion that will more than double its space and will include the area's first Nordstrom's department store.

A. H. Fetting's history mirrors the Baltimore area's growth.

Burned out by the Great Fire of 1904, the company joined with other merchants to rebuild, reopening at 213 Liberty St. downtown.

In 1927, it moved to North Charles Street, and it later expanded there by renting adjacent buildings.

Anticipating the importance of the emerging suburbs, the firm opened a branch location in 1959 in what is now Towson Town Center.

The Charles Street store was closed in 1979, but the company still has its offices, repair facilities and storage on North Charles Street.

"Clearly, I have mixed emotions," said Mr. Fetting. "I don't have any plans, and I will need to find some kind of activity, whether volunteer work or whatever. I'm not the kind of person who can sit around all day."

The store's regular customers have been invited to a close-out sale beginning next Friday. A "Farewell Sale" will be open to the public beginning Monday, April 22.

Source: The Baltimore Sun - 12th April 1991




John Howard Fetting Jr., 79, president of jewelry business in city, Towson

November 27, 2002|By Jacques Kelly | Jacques Kelly,SUN STAFF

John Howard Fetting Jr., former president of a well-known downtown and Towson jewelry business, died Sunday of a stroke at his North Baltimore home. He was 79.

The former president of A.H. Fetting Co., where he was an officer for 45 years, he also headed two merchants' groups, the Charles Street Association and the Towson Plaza Association.

Born in Baltimore, he was raised on 33rd Street in Waverly. He attended St. Bernard parochial school before graduating from Loyola High School in 1941, where he played varsity baseball and ice hockey.

"He was an accomplished and natural athlete," said James J. Lacy, his brother-in-law and a former Loyola College basketball top scorer. "Jack was a classy first baseman and an outstanding ice hockey player."

While at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., he enlisted in the Marine Corps. After additional government-sponsored schooling at Villanova University, he became a lieutenant and was assigned to Hiroshima to help rebuild that Japanese city after the atomic bomb had been dropped. He completed his degree requirements at Loyola College in 1949, where he also played baseball.

In 1947, Mr. Fetting started as a salesman in the jewelry business founded here by his ancestors in 1873. A 1991 Evening Sun profile said of him, "As always, he was dressed in a conservative gray suit, looking more the part of an investment banker than a jeweler." In fact, Mr. Fetting had served a three-year term as a board member of the Baltimore branch of the Federal Reserve of Richmond in the 1960s.

"He was an important presence on Charles Street," said Walter Sondheim of the Greater Baltimore Committee. "He tried long and hard to sustain the quality of his business. He had high, high standards."

Family members said that in 1954, Mr. Fetting was interviewed by Walter Hoving, the chairman of Tiffany & Co. who later headed the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to become the Baltimore sales agency for Hoving's New York jewelry and gift store.

"When he returned home that day, he wasn't sure if he had passed the test," said his son, Mark R. Fetting of Lutherville. "But he did."

Mr. Fetting, who once said his customers "were discriminating and demanding," directed decorators to make sure his show windows possessed a sense of drama to create a simple, direct effect. The windows often featured Edward Boehm porcelain birds, diamonds and Rolex watches, as well as Tiffany gold and silver pieces.

In 1959, Mr. Fetting opened a second store in the Towson Plaza Shopping Center, and a decade later it was outselling the downtown Charles Street store. In 1979, he closed the downtown shop but kept his office and jeweler's workroom there.

"I have my own affection for downtown," he said. "The closing was a proper business decision, but it doesn't eliminate the emotional aspects of all this."

Colleagues recalled Mr. Fetting as a natural leader and congenial competitor. He led a group of Charles Street merchants each morning at an informal coffee hour at the old John Minor lunchroom. For more than four decades he belonged to the Charles Street Association, and in 1968, he was elected its president. Many of his friends called him Jack, but he got the nickname "Diamond" when he played squash at the Maryland Club, where he won championships.

In 1991, Mr. Fetting retired and closed his business. He mailed each customer an announcement. And as a way of wishing those final customers goodbye, his last show window featured a man tipping his hat to an audience from a stage. Behind him was a sign with a single word: "Farewell."

A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 10 a.m. today at St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church, Calvert and Madison streets.

Survivors also include his wife of 52 years, the former Mary Angela Lacy; another son, Dr. John H. Fetting III of Baltimore; three daughters, Dr. Margaret A. Fetting of Camarillo, Calif., M. Lacy Kotansky of New Freedom, Pa., and R. Jean Fetting of Little Rock, Ark.; and 12 grandchildren.

Source: The Baltimore Sun - 27th November 2002


Trev.

[dognose]

WRIGHT, KAY & COMPANY

140-144, Woodward Avenue, Detroit, and Rue des Petits Hotels 24-26, Paris



Wright, Kay & Company - Detroit - 1891



Wright, Kay & Co. - Detroit - 1900



Wright, Kay & Co. - Detroit - 1905



Wright, Kay & Co. - Detroit - 1908



Wright, Kay & Co. - Detroit - 1915

The business of Henry Martyn Wright, John Kay and Jacob Farrand was established in 1886, the earlier date of 1872 that appears on one of the above advertisements would refer to the business of Roehm & Wright (Robert J. F. Roehm and Henry Wright), a predecessor of the firm of Wright, Kay & Co.

Wright, Kay & Co. were incorporated in May 1906.

Henry Wright was born on the 15th August 1843 at Hudson, Ohio. He was the son of Philo and Electa E. (Coe) Wright.

Henry Wright married Flora May Haight on the 23rd September 1872 at San Francisco.

John Kay died on the 19th November 1931.

Trev.

[dognose]

SISCO BROTHERS

95, Baltimore Street, later, 50, North Charles Street, Baltimore



Sisco Brothers - Baltimore - 1864



Sisco Brothers - Baltimore - 1873

The business of Charles T. Sisco and J. Edward Sisco.

Trev.

[dognose]

THE AMERICAN BADGE, PIN and MEDAL Mfg.Co.

Saint Clair, Pa.



The American Badge, Pin and Medal M'f'g. Co. - Saint Clair, Pa. - 1891

Trev.

[dognose]

E.M. MERCIER

64, West Randolph Street, Chicago



E.M. Mercier - Chicago - 1921

64, West Randolph Street was the former Chicago branch office of the D.L. Auld Company and E.M. Mercier was Auld's manager of that office.

Trev.

[dognose]

MUELLER-MICHAEL Co.

37, South Wabash Avenue, Chicago



Mueller-Michael Co. - Chicago - 1921

Trev.

[dognose]

C.B. WILKINSON

8, later, 42, John Street, New York



C.B. Wilkinson - New York - 1884

Trev.

[dognose]

DAVIS & CLEGG

616, Chestnut Avenue, Philadelphia



Davis & Clegg - Philadelphia - 1904



Davis & Clegg - Philadelphia - 1905

As can be seen from the below advertisement issued in December 1906, Davis & Clegg merged with Hoover & Smith:



Hoover & Smith - Philadelphia - 1906

Trev.

[dognose]

D.L. SWITZER

3, East Main Street, later, 19, Main Street, Staunton, Virginia



D.L. Switzer - Staunton, Va. - 1905



D.L. Switzer - Staunton, Va. - 1905

Trev.

[dognose]

C. E. STREETER & CO.

Suite 17, Horton Block, Park Street, Attleborough

Manufacturers of Regalia and Ribbon Badges, Emblematical Charms, Badges, Cuff Buttons, etc. – Suite 17 Horton Block, Park St.

This house–which, by the way, now consists of Mr. Charles E. Streeter alone–was established in 1889, and is already famous throughout the length and breadth of the land for the excellent taste and superior material and workmanship that distinguish its productions. The leading specialties comprise full lines of regalia and ribbon badges in regulation styles, but in addition he manufactures an infinitely varied line of charms, badges, cuff and lapel buttons, pins, etc., emblematical of the various orders and societies–Freemasons, Odd Fellows, Good Templars, Knights of Pythias, A. O. U. W., Knights of Honor, Grand Army of the Republic, Knights of Labor, Red Men, Sons of Veterans, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Elks, Foresters, Locomotive Firemen, United Order American Mechanics and many others. Any kind or style of badge is made to order at short notice, and catalogues mailed to applicants.

Source: Inland Massachusetts illustrated - 1891

Trev.

[dognose]

THE TOLEDO JEWELRY Mfg.Co.

307, Smith and Baker Building, Toledo, Ohio



The Toledo Jewelry Mfg.Co. - Toledo - 1920







Trev.

[dognose]

E.L. LOGEE Co.

183, Eddy Street, and 18, Cortlandt Street, New York City, later, 95, Chestnut Street, Providence, R.I.



E.L. Logee Co. - Providence - 1920


E.L. Logee Co. - Providence - 1922

Established in 1891.

E. L. LOGEE & CO., Manufacturers of Masonic, Odd Fellows', Knights of Pythias, etc., Pins, Charms and Buttons, No. 183 Eddy Street.

A very significant illustration of the importance and magnitude of the jewelry trade in the city of Providence is afforded in the fact that so many
establishments are engaged in special branches of the industry, the annual average of whose transactions bears an important relation to the grand total of the city's commerce. A very important and rapidly growing branch of this trade during the past few decades is that of manufacturing society emblems, badges, etc., and in this special line will be found many large and flouishing concerns. Among the number is the representative and responsible house of Messrs. E. L. Logee & Co., centrally located at No. 183 Eddy Street, with branch office at No. 18 Cortlandt Street, New York City. Mr. Logee is a Rhode Island man by birth and has been a resident of this city for many years, and has had a practical experience in the different branches of this trade since 1862, during which period he was in business for himself in the general trade for twenty-five years, which he relinquished in 1891 and established himself in this special line under the present firm title. Turning out none but high-class goods, and adhering strictly to reliable business methods, he developed at once a very large and influential patronage among the general trade throughout all parts of the United States, which is constantly increasing and requires the constant services of a travelling salesman to look after its interests. The premises occupied are very spacious and commodious, and comprise an entire floor, 40 x 125 feet in dimensions, which is admirably arranged for business and manufacturing purposes. The factory is fully equipped with ample steam-power and the latest improved machinery, tools, and appliances to insure rapid and perfect production, including the services of thirty and more skilled and experienced hands. The range of products embraces solid gold and gold plate pins, charms, badges, buttons, etc., for all kinds of standard organizations, such as Knight Templars, Masonic, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Order of Red Men, Foresters, Elks, Iron Hall, Grand Army, Legion of Honor, Royal Arcanum, and college societies, etc. These goods are made of the very best materials, emblematically correct, and are guaranteed to be just as represented, while the prices are such as to invite the attention of the trade. A specialty is made of lodge jewels of every description, which in elegance of design and fine workmanship are unsurpassed by any other house in the country.

Source: Industries and Wealth of the Principal Points in Rhode Island. - Being the City of Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, Woonsocket, Newport, Narragansett Pier, Bristol & Westerly. - 1892




Trev.

[dognose]

MAXWELL & BERLET

Walnut Street, Philadelphia, and Atlantic City



Maxwell & Berlet - Philadelphia - 1914

Trev.

[dognose]

POPULAR EMBLEM & MEDAL Co.

102, later, 108, Fulton Street, New York



Popular Emblem & Medal Co. - New York - 1915



Popular Emblem & Medal Co. - New York - 1920



Popular Emblem & Medal Co. - New York - 1938

Trev.

[dognose]

GEBHARDT BROTHERS

Cincinnati



Gebhardt Bros. - Cincinnati - 1902

Gebhardt Bros., Cincinnati, O., who have come into front ranks as the patentee and manufacturer of the Victory attachments, have increased their lines and make fine diamond and pearl brooches and pendants. Their Fall stock is most complete.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular and Horological Review - 17th September 1902

Trev.