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The other day I posted some photos of my haul from my latest antique show trip. (Read about it in my blog post, “To the Early, Go the Spoils“). I wrote that sometimes I see the same thing over and over, at different booths and wonder to myself why. Is it because I just never noticed them before and they were there all along or what? Which came first, the chicken or the friendship bracelets?
Anyway, it doesn’t matter because this time I bought 5 of them! I’ve had one of these before, the second one down in the photo to the left. On the back of it it says “forget-me-not” and stamped Sterling. (All of these are Sterling silver except the top one which I think is gold-plate.) I was really happy to see all the varieties at the show. I had just used my last 2 links of my former bracelet and really loved it. The one I had had all boys names on them. This group I bought last Friday had a variety of names and initials. I was intrigued! I was led to believe that girls would have the names of their suitors and/or boyfriends engraved on the links. (I assumed my last bracelet belonged to a rather slutty young lady since all her links had boys’ names on them!). I came home with my stash and did a little detective work.
So, I’m sure it’s obvious that the 2 bracelets that have the flower, Forget-Me-Nots, do so on purpose. So, the wearer will not forget the people whose names are now engraved on them.
The bottom bracelet, with the blue ribbon woven through, really is my favorite and a bit of a splurge. I adored the design and the engraving was so wonderful. And then there’s the names. No Brittany’s or Tiffany’s in the bunch! The names on the blue-ribbon bracelet are: Father, Mother, Mary, Dr. Bass, Martha, Timmy and Judy.
The names on the other Forget-Me-Not bracelet are: Mom, Thelma, Bev, Edythe, Doris, Kay Claire, Joyce, Marilyn, and Hazel.
So, my research on these 2 types dates them to WWII era! Women would collect the links engraved with the names of loved ones.
But, even older are the other 3 bracelets – they date from 1915-1920! They were simply called “Friendship Bracelets”. Again, names or initials of special friends were engraved on the links. They were typically made in St. Louis, Missouri, and production started in 1915. Here are the names on these types on the ones I bought: Myrtle (when’s the last time you met a Myrtle?!), Kate, Mary, Mildred, Eleanor, Marie, Raymond, Lucile, Lalla (?), George, Bessie, Mother, Gertrude (!!!), Hilda, Janet, Father, Jessie, Eugene, Polly, another Father and another Kate.
I haven’t used any of these yet but will soon! If you see a name that has meaning to you and want me to make something custom for you to give them (or yourself) drop me an email!
Enjoyed the history lesson – Thanks for sharing.
Enjoy your evening.
Glenda
Paula-poo, years ago while on vacation in Bermuda I bought(with vacation money, which, as you know, is like Monopoly money)a necklace which has 6 Sterling silver luggage tags all of them engraved. They are so super special and only could have been used in Victorian times or some other society that had morals! They are engraved and are each so special and hunky. If I get my husband to help me, I’ll try to scan them and send you a look. You will be jealous!!!Love U, Nina
I AM jealous, Nina! I love those and see them on eBay all the time but they are $$$! What a great find! Yes, send me a scan so I can drool!
xo
[...] History Lesson of the Week: Forget-Me-Not Friendship Bracelets …Oct 27, 2011 … Paula Montgomery – On(re)Purpose – custom, hand-made jewelry … Which came first, the chicken or the friendship bracelets? Anyway … [...]
I, unfortunately, lost one of these forget-me-not bracelets several years ago. It was from my uncle Kenneth, to my aunt, Dorothy (Dode, as he called her). I wore it daily, after asking my uncle for it, after his wife passed away. I miss it so much. My daughter was actually looking forward to owning it some day. It said “To Dode with love from Ken” and then the date. I am looking for it on-line, and I came to your site. It was identical to the second one down in your pictures. Thank you for the pictures and I will let you know if I ever find it!!
Helen Browne
I have two of these silver friendship bracelets (both different designs). On the back of each link is the engraving of the jeweler – each bracelet is a different jeweler with a patent. The bracelets belonged to my husband’s grandmother. Each bracelet has a link that is engraved with her high school and graduation year (BHS 1916) One bracelet has mostly parents, aunts, uncles and some friends. The other has her school friends and boyfriend, who she later married (my husband’s grandfather). What the fun thing is that I have the high school year books (1916 and 1915) of both grandparents and two photo albums with lots of fun, candid pics. So, I can match the names on the bracelets with the photos. Some of these high school friends had children who were life long friends of my in-laws.
That’s an awesome story, Nancy! Thanks for sharing! I love that you’re able to match the names with the faces, too. Wonderful.
Hi Paula I too fell in love with these amazing part of history.The first one I found was in pieces and even though I thought I had fixed it properly,I lost it off my wrist.I thought I’d never find another one,but I have actually have been lucky (I have a very generous husband) and have found quite a few over the last twenty years.I have heard many stories from women about how they got them.My favorite one is,In the forties a group of girlfriend went to the jewelry shop every payday and each bought their links for a dollar each.If someone was short that week they all chipped in so they would always have the same link.When all was said and done the jeweler put them all together to make each bracelet.This was a woman almost eighty and she had lost her bracelet many years before and was thrilled to see mine and even more so to tell me her story.
Super cool, Kathy! Great story about the 80 year old woman. Love that. Thanks much for sharing!
hi Paula i have been going thru my 92 year old mother in law’s jewerly. I found two of these frienship bracelet and necklace. second from top on the picture posted, they are awesome. went to jewerly store woman was fascinated with them she advised me to look on internet. the pieces are in perfect shape too.
Awesome, Kathy! They really are very cool and I love the history. Treasure them!
How interesting to read about your bracelets, and all the comments as well. I am now 77 but when I was about 10, my mother and my godmother gave me one of these bracelets. Unfortunately, I do not now have it, but have been looking for one on the internet. Just today I found one and amazingly all of the links were engraved with the names of my mother’s brothers and sisters. How unusual, unlikely and incredible is that? Needless to say, I bought it immediately. I also found an unengraved link and a very inexpensive bracelet with an original clasp (which the first bracelet did not have). Now all I need to do is find a jeweler to do some repair work and combine the bracelets. I will then have a very amazing reminder of my family, of which my several uncles all served during WWII. I consider this to be an absolutely wonderful find! Now, if I can just find links with the name “Deane” and “Elliott” engraved on them …. On to the hunt!
Wow, Penny! What a wonderful find is right! That’s kind of amazing, actually. Good luck with the other two you need. They will turn up, I’m sure! Thanks for sharing that great story!
I have my grandmothers bracelet dated 1915 and I have my mothers bracelet from the mid 1940s. I purchased one at an antique shop for twenty dollars and that one I call my own. It even has a link that is engraved with my name, Mary Ellen! My father-in-law told me that he remembers them being sold at a Fort Wayne amusement park and they were “expensive”. A lady at church says “No, they were cheap.” A single link seens to weight about as much as a dime. I have been trying to find out how much a link cost back then. Can anyone tell me?
Thanks for the post, Mary! Great story! I have no idea what they would have cost. I think it depends on what era, too. The ones above with the ribbon are quite a bit older than the others so I think that would make a difference.
That’s so great that you have them! Let me know if you find out any more info about them, too!
Hi, Interesting History Lesson and Comments. Thanks for all the info.
I do think your bracelet with the ribbon was originally connected with sterling foldover connector links like the other bracelets in the grouping. These type of connector links were relatively cheap and often came loose. Also these type of bracelets from the WWII era often had Links with Military Insignia and a central link with a Winged “V” for Victory. These bracelets were often called “Victory” or “Sweetheart” Bracelets.
Happy Hunting and Good Luck, Kat
Thanks, Kat! The ribbon one is way earlier, though. Late 1800′s so I think ribbon was the way it was connected. The dealer I bought it from was very knowledgeable about them, too. Plus, that means that each link would have lost it’s connection, too, which I doubt would have happened. The writing on that one is so amazing.
You’re right, the others came out at wartime. I have another with the eagle in the center. Very cool and a great piece of history!
Thanks for the comment!
p
I have one of these that I can date to 1915 or 1916. It belonged to my mother’s first cousin, who was born in 1904 and was 13 when her mother died. One of the links has my grandmother’s initials (maiden name) – who was the owner’s aunt, and one is marked “Mother.”
Very cool, Karen! It’s so much nicer when you have a personal connection to the history. Thanks for sharing!
I have just found a forget-me-knot bracelet in my mother’s jewelry (she died at age 95 in 2011). Mine has USN in the middle link. To my knowledge, we had no Navy folks in our family. I was speculating that perhaps a Navy guy was about to be shipped out during WWII and gave this to his sweetheart. Does anyone else have a military insignia on theirs?
Very cool, Pam! I’ve seen them for sale with the military emblem. I used the links from a blank bracelet that had/has the military insignia on it. Yep, it would have been Navy for sure.
Nice treasure. Thanks for sharing!
p
Some time ago I purchased 2 forget-me-not bracelets at an estate sale. They are very sweet and in excellent condition. Each link is encased, top and bottom, with leaves and a single flower identical to the 2nd one pictured above. The back of each of the 9 links reads STERLING and under that FORGET-ME-Not in caps.
Yesterday, while at an estate sale, I purchased a similar bracelet with a Navy motif. each link is encased with a rope design with a scallop on top and bottom. In the center is a fouled anchor and USN across the anchor. Stamped on the back of each link STERLING CRAFT on the top and BY Coro on the bottom. I am guessing that Coro was written in the style of the period or it is a Coro knock off. It is slightly bigger that the forget-me-not which has 9 links and this one has 8 links but they are both are roughly 7″. Have you or anyong seen this bracelet before? I would love to have some info on it.
My mother in law recently passed away and while I was looking at her jewelry I came across a Coro friendship necklace (20 tags) and it looks similar to the ones you have displayed other than only 6 are stamped Coro sterling and the remainder sterling forget-me-not. I was not sure what it exactly was and now I know. Thanks for the info.