Poke
Copyright Š 2016 by Leah M. Urbank All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Printed in the United States of America First Printing, 2016 Open Sans was designed by Steve Matteson of Ascender Corp in 2010. Cormorant Infant was designed by Christian Thalmann of Catharsis Fonts in 2015.
Poke by Leah Urbank
Contents 3
Introduction
9
Butterfly
33
Rubber
41
Tie Pin
45
Button
61
Safety Pin
Introduction This collection of lapel pins, tie pins, buttons, and others is a celebration of design in the purest sense. These pins that I have been collecting and keeping for years from around the world are small in size, and easy to pass over. Here, each one is celebrated in it’s own space, so the work nameless designers put in can be appreciated. In this straightforward inch grid format, each piece is given space, whether the design maybe a victory or a failure. Below each piece, organized by what type of backing the pin has, is a small statement about how I have come to acquire each piece, although some are even unknown to me from having them for so many years. Also inside are small histories of events and places, to put the pins into context, and to share the rich history of the culture surrounding them.
Poke
7
Butterfly
Though it is unknown who actually created the original lapel pins, what we do know is that a key design process often used for these pins known as “inlaying� was extremely popular during the 13th century in China. At the time, Chinese artists and craftsmen created fired enamelware items during the Yuan Dynasty. This process became even more popular during the Xuan De period of 1426-2435,which coincided with the reign of Emperor Zhu Qiyu. Relics of small yet ornate enamelware products greatly resembling pins have been found from those periods. You could even make an argument that lapel pins date back to the time of the ancient Egyptians, who (as far as we know) invented the process of inlaying. The Egyptians would inlay colorful and ornate enamel materials on top of a (usually copper) base, and then secure those layers together using soldered wire. This technique dates back to 1800 BC. By the 13th century BC, the Greeks had put their own spin on the inlaying process, using colorful powdered glass to fill cells that were made by soldered wire. They would then put the pieces into a fire to produce beautifully decorative objects. An important part of Lapel pin history is they were worn by soldiers during battle as unit markers. This practice began during the Revolutionary War and continued through World War I and the Civil Rights area. Today, many politicians and political supporters wear lapel pins during important rallies. You will rarely see the President or other politicians without an American Flag lapel pin when giving an address, or without a campaign pin when out advertising their campaign during election season. Today, pins are used for a wide variety of reasons, but the trend is nothing new. They have a deeply rooted history in all corners of the world.
Poke
9
Unknown origin.
10
A gift from my father, Scott Urbank. A gift from John Hromada. Souvenir from Yellowstone National Park while on vacation. A gift from John Hromada. A gift from John Hromada. Unknown origin. Souvenir from the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls
Poke
11
A gift from John Hromada. Unknown origins. Souvenir from the Canadians side of Niagara Falls while on vacation.
12
Unknown origin. Unknown origin. Souvenir from the Durango and Silverton train in Colorado. Souvenir from the Black Hills National park in South Dakota. A gift from Alecia Langan. A gift from Nick Voboril.
Poke
13
A gift from my mother, Phyllis Urbank. Unknown origin. Souvenir from the Durham Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. Unknown origin.
Gift from Disney at Disney World, for participating in marching band.
Souvenir from the Mohican Canoeing launch point.
Souvenir from the Great Sand Dune National Park.
14
Great Sand Dunes National Park Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is a United States National Park located in the San Luis Valley, in the easternmost parts of Alamosa County and Saguache County, Colorado, United States. Originally created as Great Sand Dunes National Monument on March 17, 1932, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve was established by an act of the United States Congress on September 13, 2004. The park contains the tallest sand dunes in North America, rising about 750 feet (230 m) from the floor of the San Luis Valley on the western base of the Sangre de Cristo Range, covering about 19,000 acres (7,700 ha). Researchers say that the dunes started forming less than 440,000 years ago. The dunes were formed from sand and soil deposits of the Rio Grande and its tributaries, flowing through the San Luis Valley. Over the ages, glaciers feeding the river and the vast lake that existed upon the valley melted, and the waters evaporated. Westerly winds picked up sand particles from the lake and river flood plain. As the wind lost power before crossing the Sangre de Cristo Range, the sand was deposited on the east edge of the valley. This process continues, and the dunes are slowly growing. The wind changes the shape of the dunes daily.
Poke
15
Unknown origin. A gift from my mother, Phyllis Urbank. A gift from John Hromada. Unknown origin. A gift from my sister, Erin Urbank. A gift from John Hromada.
16
Souvenir from Virgina Beach. Unknown origin. A gift from my sister, Erin Urbank. Souvenir from the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. during a high school trip.
Poke
17
A gift from John Hromada. A gift from my sister, Erin Urbank. Unknown origin. A gift from John Hromada. A gift from my sister, Erin Urbank. A gift from John Hromada.
18
A gift from my sister, Shannon Berger. Can only can be acquired from riding the helicopter to the hospital.
Poke
19
Whatever the process used to produce it, the heart of a lapel pin is in its design. Without the correct form, a lapel pin falls short of meeting its goal. After all, these are very small pieces. They must be designed with both preciseness and legibility in mind.
20
Commemorative Coke pin from my mother, Phyllis Urbank.
Poke
21
Souvenir from the Chimney Rock Museum in Nebraska. A gift from John Hromada. A gift from John Hromada. Unknown origin. A gift from John Hromada. A gift from my sister, Erin Urbank, from the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. during a high school trip.
22
Souvenir from the Grand Canyon National Park. A gift from my mother, Phyllis Urbank. Souvenir from the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.
Poke
23
Diet Coke pin set from my mother, Phyllis Urbank. Olympic Coke pins from my mother.
24
A gift from John Hromada. A gift from John Hromada. A gift from John Hromada. Souvenir from a special exhibit, Sue the T-Rex at the Durham Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. A gift from John Hromada.
Poke
25
Mesa Verde National Park Mesa Verde National Park is a National Park and World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado. It protects some of the best preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States. Created by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, the park occupies 52,485 acres (21,240 ha) near the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. With more than 4,300 sites, including 600 cliff dwellings, it is the largest archaeological preserve in the U.S. Mesa Verde (Spanish for “green table”) is best known for structures such as Cliff Palace, thought to be the largest cliff dwelling in North America. Starting c. 7500 BCE, Mesa Verde was seasonally inhabited by a group of nomadic Paleo-Indians known as the Foothills Mountain Complex. The variety of projectile points found in the region indicates they were influenced by surrounding areas, including the Great Basin, the San Juan Basin, and the Rio Grande Valley. Later, Archaic people established semi-permanent rockshelters in and around the mesa. By 1000 BCE, the Basketmaker culture emerged from the local Archaic population, and by 750 CE the Ancestral Puebloans had developed from the Basketmaker culture. The Mesa Verdeans survived using a combination of hunting, gathering, and subsistence farming of crops such as corn, beans, and squash. They built the mesa’s first pueblos sometime after 650, and by the end of the 12th century, they began to construct the massive cliff dwellings for which the park is best known. By 1285, following a period of social and environmental instability driven by a series of severe and prolonged droughts, they abandoned the area and moved south to locations in Arizona and New Mexico, including Rio Chama, Pajarito Plateau, and Santa Fe.
26
A gift from John Hromada. Unknown origin. Unknown origin. A gift from John Hromada. Souvenir from Mesa Verde National Park.
Poke
27
A gift from my sister, Erin Urbank, from her senior marching band trip. Unknown origin. Souvenir from the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.
28
Unknown origin. Unknown origin. Earned from donating two gallons of blood to the Nebraska Community Blood Bank. Unknown origin. Unknown origin. A gift from my sister, Erin Urbank.
Poke
29
Unknown origin. Unknown origin. Unknown origin. A gift from my sister, Erin Urbank. Souvenir from the Agate Fossil Bed National Monument Museum.
30
Golden sower from the Lincoln capital building.
Poke
31
Rubber
This back is still categorized as a lapel pin, but the back has been replaced with a piece of PVC rubber. It fits the vast majority of lapel pins, and can be considered a safer alternative to the butterfly clutch. While the butterfly clutch can fail, and the pin can puncture through the thin metal of the clutch, the rubber does not have that issue. Disney trading pins, for example, all use this type of pin back, as kids are actively collecting and handling them.
Poke
33
Disney Pin Trading Many thousands of unique pins have been created over the years. Pins are available for a limited time; the base price for a pin is US$7.95. Limited edition pins, and special pins (e.g. pins that have a dangle, pin-on-pin, flocking, lenticular, light-up, moving element, 3-D element, etc.) cost up to $14.95. Featured Artist and Jumbo Pins cost between $20 and $35 and Super Jumbo pins cost upwards of, and sometimes beyond, $125. Pins are frequently released at special events, movie premiers, pin trading events or to commemorate the opening day of a new attraction. Some pins have appreciated well on the secondary market and have reached prices of over US$2000 at venues such as eBay. Most Disney pins are enamel or enamel cloisonnÊ with a metal base. The backs of each pin are very sharp and should be used with care by young collectors. Pins have always been present at Disney parks, but it wasn’t until 1999 as part of the Millennium Celebration that Disney Pin Trading at the Walt Disney World Resort was introduced. The next year, the craze spread to the Disneyland Resort, which has become the home of most Pin Trading events, but is most popular in Disney World. Since then, Pin Trading has spread to Aulani, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and Disney Cruise Lines with each location creating their own pins and traditions. Although the trading of pins has been suspended in Tokyo Disney Resort, pins are still offered as prizes at carnival games, and a relatively small number of pins are available.
34
Bought at Disney World, during my senior year band trip. From Disney World. Souvenir from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World. Souvenir from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World. From Disney World. From Disneyland, from my sister, Erin Urbank, on her senior year band trip.
Poke
35
Bought from the Disney World Hollywood Hotel of Terror. Bought from a pin cart in Disney World in Florida.
36
Souvenir from the Petrified Forest National Park. From a Disney World pin stand. Bought from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World in Florida. Earned by doing hikes in the Metro Parks in Columbus, Ohio in 2011. Commemorative 10 year pin. Earned by doing hikes in the Metro Parks in Columbus, Ohio in 2011.
Poke
37
Earned at the Columbus, Ohio Metro Parks for doing hikes in 2010. Earned at the Columbus, Ohio Metro Parks for doing hikes in 2008. Commemorative 5 year pin. Earned at the Columbus, Ohio Metro Parks for doing hikes. This commemorates the most popular and famous hiking trail. Unknown origin.
38
A gift from John Hromada, from the Hard Rock Cafe in Cologne, Germany. Bought from the Hard Rock Cafe in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Bought from the Hard Rock Cafe in Miami, Florida, during my senior year band trip.
Poke
39
Tie Tack
When donning a tie tack, well-bred wealthy English gentlemen of the early 1800s did not lament about damaging their fine silk or satin ties or their starch-dusted cambric or muslin cravats with the prick of a tie pin. As a neckwear controlling device, the pin also represented personal expression through a single pearl, gemstone or precious metal, or even a monogram. By 1860, the emotion created by the tie pin had caught on, as middle/upper class Englishmen joined the tie tack craze, with pins forged of all sorts of materials, shapes and designs. At this time, men felt free to express themselves with this small and often delicate style symbol without anguishing over the tiny hole the pin made on their ties.
Poke
41
Unknown origins.
42
Unknown origins.
Poke
43
Button
Political buttons have been used in the United States since the first presidential inauguration in 1789, when George Washington’s supporters wore buttons imprinted with a slogan. These early buttons were sewn to the lapel of a coat or worn as a pendant on a string. The first campaign buttons with photographs of were produced to promote the political platform of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Benjamin S. Whitehead patented the first innovation to the design in 1893 by inserting a sheet of transparent film made of celluloid over a photograph mounted on a badge to protect the image from scratches and abrasion. Whitehead had patents for various designs of ornamental badges and medallions previously, patented as early as 1892. Another patent was issued to Whitehead & Hoag on 21 July 1896 for a “Badge Pin or Button” which used a metal pin anchored to the back of the button to fasten the badge. Other improvements and modifications to the basic design were patented in the following years by other inventors. Early pin-back buttons from 1898 were printed with a popular cartoon character, The Yellow Kid, and offered as prizes with chewing gum or tobacco products to increase sales. These buttons were produced with a concave opening on the back side (which provided space to insert advertising), or with a closed back, filled with metal insert and fastener. These are called “open back” and “closed back” buttons. In 1945, the Kellogg Company, the pioneer in cereal box prizes, inserted prizes in the form of pin-back buttons into each box of Pep Cereal. Pep pins have included U.S. Army squadrons as well as characters from newspaper comics. There were 5 series of comic characters and 18 different buttons in each set, with a total of 90 in the collection.
Poke
45
A reward for doing well in French, from Lincoln Southeast’s Madam Tangen. Bought in a large pack from Wal-mart. A gift from Aaron Berger. A gift from Aaron Berger. A gift from Aaron Berger.
46
Unknown origin. A gift from Aaron Berger. Unknown origin. Unknown origin. Free when buying a tank top from Wal-Mart. A gift from Aaron Berger.
Poke
47
A button is a messaging tool, a person to person communications device. A button maker is having your own printing press. You can comment on issues on a day to day basis and sit on the subway a month later and see someone wearing your message. A button is a small canvas for ordinary people to express themselves. A button can be the weapon of the oppressed or a quiet form of passive resistance.
48
Thatgamecompany and Journey buttons, free with a purchase of a shirt.
Poke
49
Journey symbol that came with a purchased shirt. A gift from a fellow classmate. Bought from Hot Topic.
50
Poke
51
A gift from Aaron Berger. A gift from Aaron Berger.
52
A gift from Aaron Berger. Lincoln Southeast marching band button from 2007.
Poke
53
PAX PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming festivals held in Seattle, Boston, Melbourne, and San Antonio. PAX was created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the authors of the Penny Arcade web comic, because they wanted to attend a show exclusively for gaming. Created in 2004, PAX has been hailed as a celebration of gamer culture. Defining characteristics of the festival include an opening keynote speech from an industry insider, game-culture inspired concerts, panels on game topics, exhibitor booths from independent and major game developers and publishers, a LAN party, tabletop game tournaments, and video game freeplay areas. Every PAX also features the Omegathon, a festival long tournament consisting of a group of randomly selected attendees competing for a grand prize. The final round of the Omegathon makes up the closing ceremony of PAX. Past games for the final round have included Tetris, Pong, Halo 3, and Skee ball. My brother-in-law, Aaron Berger, attended Pax and then subsequently gifted many of the free buttons that he had gotten at the event to me.
54
A gift from Aaron Berger. From an anti-smoking event thrown by Lincoln Southeast High School. Unknown origin.
Poke
55
A gift from Aaron Berger. A gift from Aaron Berger. From an anti-smoking event thrown by Lincoln Southeast High School. A gift from Aaron Berger. A gift from Aaron Berger. Unknown origin.
56
Unknown origin. From Iron Brush Tattoo shop, while accompanying a friend. Unknown origin. Lincoln Southeast marching band button from 2008.
Poke
57
Unknown origin. From an anti-smoking event thrown by Lincoln Southeast. Unknown origin. A reward for doing well in French class from Madam Tangen. A gift from Aaron Berger.
58
A gift from Aaron Berger. A gift from Aaron Berger. A gift from Aaron Berger.
Poke
59
Safety Pin
A safety clasp is similar to a safety pin in design. A long pin prong tucks under a small hook or clasp to hold the pin in place. These kinds of pins are more commonly called brooches, rather than lapel pins. A brooch is a decorative jewelery item designed to be attached to garments, often to hold them closed. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold but sometimes bronze or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with enamel or with gemstones and may be solely for ornament (as in the stomacher) or sometimes serve a practical function as a fastening, perhaps for a cloak. The earliest known brooches are from the Bronze Age. As fashions in brooches changed rather quickly, they are important chronological indicators. Many sorts of European brooches found in archaeology are usually referred to by the Latin term fibula. In the contemporary era, these pins are not as often used for their traditional use of holding clothing closed, rather as a small piece just to display, the same as lapel pins or button pins.
Poke
61
A gift from my sister, Shvonne Serri. A gift from the geology teacher at Lincoln Southeast, Mr. Caster. Unknown origin.
62
Unknown origin. A gift from my father, Scott Urbank, from Germany. Unknown origin. Unknown origin.
Poke
63