Mystery triangle pin: what is this thing?

December 2, 2021 9:22 PM

Asking for a friend: The object in question. Possibly relevant information: Found in grandmother's jewelry box, believed to date from 50s-70s; grandmother was bowler and grandfather was a firefighter and in the American Legion. Any ideas?
posted by queseyo to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (4 answers total)

It looks like a union pin, similar to this one.
posted by mezzanayne at 11:40 PM on December 2, 2021

What part of the country did they live in? Could be a regional thing.
posted by orrnyereg at 6:14 AM on December 3, 2021

I think it looks just like that union pin from mezzanayne. So I'll downgrade myself to a guess.

My first reading of this is "be teetotal." 100% T. Alcoholics Anonymous uses triangular pins, medallions, etc, as well.
posted by Snijglau at 6:15 AM on December 3, 2021

The B and E make me think of Brotherhood of Elks or Brotherhood of Eagles (some of the old fraternal organizations popular in the mid 1900s in the US). Can't find anything similar in google search for those organizations, though.

Maybe E could stand for Engine, which is what a lot of fire departments are called.

Etsy is good for searching for vintage stuff, so maybe you can find something similar there. I found a couple like what mezzanayne linked to there when I searched "union pin triangle."
posted by msbrauer at 6:27 AM on December 3, 2021