Ebay crest???

[sarahgrace]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=11145

What's up with this crest? The seller lists a history of Theta, and other info related to our sorority, but I've never seen a crest like this before. Is it from the Epsilon Alpha chapter? What's with the acorns around the sides and the chalice and lighted lamp?

Sarah

edited to add: There is no Epsilon Alpha chapter...so what's the big EA?

[Greekgrrl]

There were a bunch of these made around the turn of the last century -- most incorporate the stuff that's on the crest now, but before the crest (and ritual) were standardized there were a *lot* of variations. My guess is that this is one of those variations. I dont' remember when the crest was standardized but i think it was in the 1900s, so that's 30+ years of experimentation by individual chapters.

I'm guessing that if you were to get a hold of this, Fraternity archives could tell you what the big EA is.

Edited to add: This is definitely us, and not another fraternity with the same name, because there's a badge at the top!

[thetalady]

Funny coincidence... I bought one of these and I am PO'D.

I am redoing my college scrapbook ann wanted some interesting Theta things to put into it. Greekgrrl is right, many chapters did have these coats of arms in the early 1900's. Katy Oldham told me that this is an old coat of arms from the Cornell chapter (I think that's what she said!) I guess the EA is not the chapter designation.

What I am angry about is that I questioned the seller several times as to whether this was an ORIGINAL or a reprint/copy. He assured me several times that it was an original. You will notice a ton of these kinds of fraternal items on Ebay right now. Apparently some collectors have bought up old yearbooks and are selling the fraternal pages individually. Not a bad return on the investment, I guess. Unfortunately you lose the origin of the print when this happens. There are 3 kinds of Theta "crests" on Ebay now, all different.

As I said, I received this item this morning. And yes, it is a COPY made on a computer on thin photo type paper. You would never know that the image is only 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" by the description, would you?

[Greekgrrl]

What a ripoff!

I'm so glad I havent' bid on any of these then -- if they were original it would be a really neat part of Theta lore, but copies certainly don't count.

How incredibly vexing.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally posted by thetalady
Funny coincidence... I bought one of these and I am PO'D.

I am redoing my college scrapbook ann wanted some interesting Theta things to put into it. Greekgrrl is right, many chapters did have these coats of arms in the early 1900's. Katy Oldham told me that this is an old coat of arms from the Cornell chapter (I think that's what she said!) I guess the EA is not the chapter designation.

What I am angry about is that I questioned the seller several times as to whether this was an ORIGINAL or a reprint/copy. He assured me several times that it was an original. You will notice a ton of these kinds of fraternal items on Ebay right now. Apparently some collectors have bought up old yearbooks and are selling the fraternal pages individually. Not a bad return on the investment, I guess. Unfortunately you lose the origin of the print when this happens. There are 3 kinds of Theta "crests" on Ebay now, all different.

As I said, I received this item this morning. And yes, it is a COPY made on a computer on thin photo type paper. You would never know that the image is only 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" by the description, would you?

In business it's against the law to claim something and then it be false. ESPECIALLY if you knowingly claim it true and it is false. I'm sure it doesnt apply to ebay sellers but I think it should.