Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 January 1910 — BADGES A HOBBY WITH MEN. [ARTICLE]

BADGES A HOBBY WITH MEN.

In Cleveland* Failure to Wear One Retarded aa Significant. He was a plain man who walked down the steps from the Hollenden -Hotel. Hls eiothes were as quiet aa his manner, and his .manner was most unassuming. \.Z His shoes were square toed and a dusty black. His collar was low and h'ls necktie was of the ready-made sort you hook to the collar button in front. His hat was black. His suit was oldfashioned pepper and salt. He was not trying to impressany one. But across his coat front a row of badges, red and yellow, made unprovoked assault upon the eyes of bystanders, says the Cleveland Plain Dealer. There were rosettes at the top »nd gold at the bottom. Letters of gold proclaimed the fact that the plain and unassuming citizen was a member of an organization with a long name; that said organization was holding a convention and that the man. behind the badge was on some committee. The man himself would have told you quietly enough. His badges shriek--3d It. He seemed somewhat embarrassed by the attention he attracted. One wondered why he suffered them so patiently. He was willing to talk. He gave his name and said he had come from Peninsula, Ohio. It developed that he did not suffer from the badges at all. He thought them pretty. He was proud of them. It’s a weakness we men folk/have. It’s like the passion for red neckties, but more general. More than half the men in Cleveland wear badges. Some wear them all the time. Some wear them on special occasion only, just as one would wfear a medal or a decoration from the emperor of some place or another. If you don’t wear a badge it’s a pretty fair sign you don’t belong to anything. Most everybody belongs to some organization and nearly every organization in Cleveland has badges for its members. Many of us have half a dozen. We wear one in one lapel button hole and keep the others in a bureau drawer at home. The badges or emblems that we wear for every day are mostly small. It may be a fraternity pin or it may be an emblem that signifies we belong to the Brotherhood of Pretzel Varnishers. It may be on the under side of our coat lapel or It may be on the edge of our waistcoat. It may take the form of a necktie pin or decorate the end of a watch fob. You may not see it the first glance, but two chances In three it’rf somewhere about. These every-day pins of labor organizations, fraternal and benevolent organizations, miscellaneous clubs and societies are small enough. The ones for conventions, balls and other special occasions may he nearly as big as folded bath towels. One can’t get too many rosettes or too much gold lace or too many metal medallions and cross bars and spread eagles hung on a badge. The more there are the more pleased and proud are to wear the badge. Alfred Henriques runs an office in the Williamson toullding-Iroin which all sorts of badges and buttons are sold. He says more buttons are worn now than during the button craze a few years ago, a craze- that preceded the present picture postal-card madness. The difference is that the buttons are not worn all the time, but more for special occasions. Afany of the badges cost as much as $5 each. They are elaborate with enamel. Some of gold are even more expensive. .