#thedailybrooch part 1

Several friends have taken to posting photos of the earrings they're wearing each day -- a bit of dressing up during this time of sheltering at home.  I have some interesting earrings but I have a larger collection of brooches.  I began posting photos of #thedailybrooch on Facebook.  I'm going to attempt to collect the photos and the stories about the brooches in a series of blog posts.





April 13: This turquoise/sterling brooch belonged to my grandmother Blaine. (I got a lot of turquoise jewelry from her, via my aunt.)

 April 14: Purchased at the gift shop at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in 1991 (or 1992?). Still one of my favorites. Artist initials on the back are "GZ," but no other info.   

April 15: A mini stack of fabric made by my friend Sheila -- — a gift from 2003 when we met up at the first Chicago Quilt Festival at Rosemont.

 April 16: A replica of the 1982 commemorative postage stamp. I bought it at Council III at the ALA Annual conference in 1987 or 88 -- that's a business meeting (and how, back in those days!), not a souvenir venue -- but Bernie Margolis, then director of the Monroe Co. (MI) library was selling them as a fundraiser. My librarian friends, especially those involved in ALA governance, knew Bernie well. (After Monroe County he went to Pikes Peak (CO) library, Boston PL, and then New York state librarian -- and the highest vote-getter for ALA Council elections. He was also a trustee of the Hancock Shaker Village. We miss him!)

 April 17: Purchased at the Historic New Orleans Collection gift shop many years ago. (Librarian friends know automatically that it was during an ALA conference.) The brooch depicts the smokestacks from the steamboat Robert E. Lee.

 April 18: A mussel shell, polished and embellished. A souvenir from our wonderful 2010 Road Scholar trip to Les Isles de la Madeleine (Magdalen Islands). They are an archipelago in the gulf of the St. Lawrence between Prince Edward Island and Quebec.

 April 19: When I was about 6 we had access to a copper enamel kiln (a home hobby model)— a family friend lent it? I don’t remember. I carefully put enamel powder on the little copper butterfly form and Dad fired it in the kiln. (He soldered the copper clasp to the back--upside down --but it is still firmly attached.)

April 20:  in 1967 our family vacation was to Montreal for Expo 67. I got this rhodium-plated circle pin that's the Expo 67 logo. 

April 21: Book pins! You may have received one of Lucinda Yates' fundraising pins or given them to other people. In the 1980's she began making house pins to support homeless shelters. That led to creating pins to support other causes -- libraries and literacy; music, education, and more. The enterprise was enormously successful and her company still makes pins! (http://lucinda.com) Here's a HuffPo profile: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lucinda-yates-designs-by-lucinda-homeless_n_1438219

April 22: a pewter daisy with seven stars, a fundraiser for the P.E.O. Ohio State Chapter to recognize Sue Baker when she was elected to the international board in 2011. When I was a delegate to the 2011 international convention one of the Ohio delegates was wearing the pin. I admired it and she gave me ordering information.

April 23: an Italian mosaic pin that I think came from my mother....The red and yellow roses and a little daisy cover my fraternal bases (Alpha Gamma Delta and P.E.O.).