Thank-you Veterans

In honor of Veteran's Day I would like to extend a sincere thank-you to the men and women who have served this country so valiantly here and abroad.  Veteran and Memorial days are perfect holidays to wear your patriotic jewelry, and if you don't own one there are plenty of costume pieces available for purchase at thrift shops or on-line. I think every major designer at one point or another has a produced a patriotic brooch, embellished in red, white and blue rhinestones. In the 40's, many of the great costume designers started out as fine jewelers but were forced to retool their skills in support of the war effort, and patriotic jewelry was very popular and abundant.  Sometimes a jewelry item can be far more personal.  I have always had an interest in coin jewelry like this bracelet I found at a thrift shop.

Handmade of Australian silver coins from the 1940's this bracelet is a form of of jewelry know as Tramp Art.  These coin bracelets are roughly cut and were not made by jewelers, but by servicemen during World War II. I was intrigued to learn that most of these bracelets were made by American GI's for their girlfriends state side.  But for me, the most personal piece of patriotic jewelry that I own is this POW/MIA bracelet I wore in the 1970's.

I was in high school at the time and these metal cuff bracelets were sold to support the efforts of families trying to locate their missing loved ones, who where presumed to be either Prisoners of War or Missing in Action in Vietnam.  The names of the missing serviceman and date he went missing was imprinted on the cuff.  I wore this bracelet for Major Donald Fisher throughout high school and part of college, always praying that one day he would return safely to his family. I'm not sure if Major Fisher was found (the star stamp on the bracelet does have meaning, but I can't remember what it stands for). Eventually, I stopped wearing the bracelet and forgot about it completely until just a few years ago when I found it in a box of my high school memorabilia. Today I am wearing this bracelet in honor of Major Fisher and for all Americans who have served or are currently serving in our armed forces.