Posted 10 years ago
ChrisAxe
(5 items)
I would love any info on this item. I know it's some kind of watch fob but there is very little online about it. It has the sayings "Here's to our wives and sweethearts may they never meet, Good form but not formality, Wine and women mirth and laughter sermons and soda the day after, here is your good health und your family good wealth and may you live long und brosber, the bubble winked at me and said I'll miss you brother when you are dead, here's to love the only fire against wind there is no insurance, the good die young here's to your ripe old age, better smoke here than hereafter". The One Cent wheat looking penny on the bottom is different from the other similar ones I found online. The date is wore off of it. I believe it's around the WWI or WWII era. Very cool item nonetheless.
It's the best I could with what I have.
I have one like yours but the round medallion is different and says "better smoke here than hereafter" and I too am having difficulty finding any information about it. There's a similar one on this collectors site, something about deer, and I found one with an egyptian motif in the 1905 sears roebuck catalog. It's an awesome and interesting piece!
The information I've been able to acquire on this item is that it's from the early 1800s. Civil war era or older.. Not many of these fobs actually exist intact, until recently only pieces of them have been found on civil war dig sites. I was told that the pieces sold for good money. The medallion on the fob in question appears to be added on at a later date. The rest of the fob looks authentic.
I also have one with the "better to smoke here". Mine belonged to my great great grandfather 1812-1896. And possible came from his father 1776-1856. Would love to know more, however, Mooseman' comment shed a little light and is very interesting. Mine has a triangular link, 2 square links, another triangular link, and finally around link about the size of a 50 cent piece.