August 13, 2008 – 10:44 pm
Took me awhile but I have some interesting pictures of various ‘Fums Up’ Touch Wood’ Touch Wud’ etc. I have a friend (who shall remain nameless at his/her request) who has an extensive collection and has agreed to share some pictures.
I think the progression of these is particularly interesting, from the 1914-16 reg. marks used in the first World War, and through to the 70’s when Nuvo made the last of the character series, identified by the double diamond and st sil mark. There were the kewpies and sambos (a particular embarrassment, but part of the cycle non the less), the bead heads, the gold, brass, & sterling, the various armed forces and the occasional hand made one - don’t even start on all the different eye variations! From the catalogs of the day we now know that they were sold in both America and the United Kingdom, but the range of manufacture remains unclear.
Here are a few to drool over:
There are so many things to be said about the charms we consider ‘lucky’ some came about by chance, some by deliberate profit schemes , but ever since we dragged ourselves from the oceans and gained grasping fingers, we have held onto those small items we feel bring us good fortune.
In the early part of the 20th century the Brits came up with a brilliant variation of the ‘touch wood for luck’ and in 1914 it was registered and marketed for sale to sweethearts as a protection gift. Perfectly timed for the first World War, thousands were sent with soldiers to the fields; I have to wonder how many were buried there, for many came back and survived on charm bracelets and in drawers. Perhaps they did their job and protected the loved ones, for I’ve never heard of one being in the personal items returned to a family, nor any sad story about one.
Fums Ups are one of the ‘must have’ charms, and a rare one can command a high price - my best one was a birthday present, still in the box, on the card and with my birthstone eyes. They come in many varieties some with no thumbs at all, some in army, navy - even female form. The roughest are wooden beads on metal forms, the finest made of gold and diamonds. One of those is listed right now if you want to see an example click here.
The different styles and types of these wonderful little ‘dolls’ is nearly endless, so until I get the scanner working and more catalog pages up - it’ll be a continuing theme. more tomorrow.
This is one of those dreamy charms, gold, jeweled, mechanical, with a hint of a gamble, taking a chance on love. The childhood game “He loves me, he loves me not” is given new depth by spinning the daisy so the ruby touches the answer. Will it be the one you want? Even today’s teenagers will have fun playing with this charm, and it’s so pretty I’d love it even if it did nothing. What’s in your future?
CLICK HERE to see the spectacular 14K gold mechanical daisy charm spins “HE LOVES ME” with ruby.
CLICK HERE FOR A NAUGHTY BUGLER BOY
OK even the kids won’t be able to tell, so I don’t mind having this on the page, but what a cute little risque charm! Hey! behave now, that’s his bugle! Click on the picture to see the charm.
For some reason it looks like this is not the full document i have - can someone tell me if it opens or if I need to redo please? I’ve done it 3 times and it keeps showing this so maybe it’s ok, but doesn’t look right to me. It works perfectly in Internet Explorer but not in Firefox, on my computer.
