So as promised, here are pictures of the first two members badges that I have saved. (Apologies for the photos, I'm
very new to photographing badges.)
Pictured from left to right is our fraternity's gear pin designated to give to family members of significant others, the badge of Robert H. Von Stein from Cedar Rapids who went to Omicron chapter at the University of Iowa. He graduated in 1954 and served in WWII, so he must have been going to school using the GI bill. I saved his badge from fratpin. Next is the badge of William Edwin Bowers whose badge I saved from
that website. He graduated in 1948 from Upsilon chapter at the University of Arkansas and he was the artist for the school's engineering magazine. Last is my personal badge.
Here are the backs of each badge. Notice how the placement of the loop that your badge guard would attach to is different on Brother Bowers' badge, which is the oldest. on his badge it is on the back of the gear while on mine and Brother Von Stein's the loop is on the handle of the tongs. The back of each badge contains a brother's name, roll book number, and the year of their graduation. (My badge says I graduate this year which is inaccurate, I still have at least a year left.
). Unfortunately, it seems as if brothers ordering their badges had the option to get their full name engraved on their badge, whereas if I wanted to order myself a new badge today, it only gives me the option to put my last name.
Pictured here is the bird's eye view of the badges. Something interesting that I didn't even think about until I had the older badges in my hand is how much the thickness of the gear on the badge varies. Thinking about it, I can understand why my badge is thicker than the two older ones as mine is just stainless steel plated in gold, but I have no clue why or how the two old badges have different thicknesses. Perhaps it is due to different manufacturers or the type of gold used. Also odd is that only the gear and Greek letters vary in thickness, as the hammer and tongs have a consistent depth on each badge.
Lastly, just for fun, here is all of the badges pictured pinned upon my shirt
Of the two badges that I rescued, I absolutely love how Brother Bowers' badge looks. The pictures don't do it justice but it has an amount of aging that just makes the individual parts of the badge stand out more. I'm glad I could finally contribute to this thread and help keep it alive.
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