2 metal name and address tag? | ||
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Posted 2 years ago
lil1steve
(25 items)
I have these two metal ID Tags, one has a date of 1919, Each request to reurn to owner, I have no idea what they were used for, hoping someone has seen this type of items
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These are called key registry tags or insurance key tags..
Try searching "antique insurance key tags"
dav2no1,
Thank you for your kind response to my question, that solves that mystery.
These are British version but the explanation is the same..
https://deabath.com/product/vintage-british-insurance-key-tag/
Disagree— the top one is definitely a pet dog tag. The dog face on it clearly identifies its use.
Suspect the bottom has the same use, but lack of a dog certainly could indicate other uses.
Insurance key tags usually have a company name and policy/ owner number.
scott
Intriguing.
I decided to use Google Lens to see what might crop up.
I found a lot of very similar ones (elliptical metal tag with the waved lines of text), but no exact match.
Here's one at CW S&T (no dog image):
Here's one at CW S&T:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/198888-mystery-dog-tag--civil-war
FYI, that incomplete museum link seems to be for this outfit (I didn't see any of those tags there):
https://mottsmilitarymuseuminc.com/
Some others have similar ones and think that they have a military origin:
https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/257462-spanish-american-war-era-dog-tag/
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1268145271/vintage-usmc-key-fob-mbns-usmc-marine
I decided to look into the history of military 'dog tags,' because my impression was that the nickname was something military members came up with as a joke along the lines of "G.I.":
https://www.history.com/news/why-are-american-soldiers-called-gis
Apparently, the story about the dog tags nickname being a soldier joke is only one theory. The other is that newspaper magnate Willam Randolph Hearst coined the term:
https://www.defense.gov/News/Inside-DOD/Blog/article/2340760/dog-tag-history-how-the-tradition-nickname-started/
I didn't find any solid evidence that these elliptical tags were ever used as miliary ID tags, certainly not official ones.
Here is the most similar one I could find (an elliptical tag with waved text and dog image):
https://mitchelfield.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/7/4/117438628/fbs-l1600_orig.jpg
https://mitchelfield.weebly.com/artifacts-relics-and-memoribilia.html
So, my sense of it (which could be wrong) is that these were general, multi-purpose address tags, mostly likely used as key fobs.
Hello, I believe I found that these are key fobs for the named person for the international order of odd fellows or independent order of odd fellows
I have a few of these that were definitely car keyring tags, bearing the name of a car dealer and a code number with 'if found, drop into any mailbox', which if received back by the dealership could be reunited with their owner by files they kept. I believe insurance companies also issued such tags.
These do not appear to be that however, for the lack of an obvious motor car logo -- it has been fun to hear the ideas of others which are probably more correct for yours, all of which I could agree with, and I hope somebody does come up with a true solution! Thanks for a FUN showing!!
lil1steve, When I add Odd Fellows to my search criteria, I do find some of those elliptal fobs.
Here's one that had never been engraved with a name and address (new old stock), but clearly has Odd Fellows imagery on it:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1920-ioof-id-tag-key-fob-o-order-odd-63430967
Here's another that's been engraved with an address, and also stamped on the back with the Odd Felllows emblem and a date, Unfortunately, the area on the front where there is an image of some kind is worn:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/637406921/antique-ioof-registry-tag-odd-fellows
I agree with AnythingObscure that these elliptical tags could have been used for a variety of purposes.
Somewhere out there is probably a vintage catalog that has blanks for sale with a variety of imagery (fraternal orders, dogs, flags, etc.) on them.
When I was a kid, there's a local fair..now Western Washington Fairgrounds. There was a machine that you put money in. And you could engrave whatever message you wanted. In that case it was a coin. But when I first saw these, it's what I was thinking. As Kera stated, it's more likely that you ordered these from a catalog.
dav2no1, I remember those penny-mangling souvenir machines. };-) I think I saw an active one as recently as the 1990s/2000s.
Yes, in case I wasn't clear about the catalog, I meant theoretically. I haven't seen one myself, but there could be some out there somewhere, maybe even an e-copy.