What are these (possibly OT?)
cmerlo1
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I bought these at the show a while back, mainly because they looked cool and had dates on them. They're ID tags for something, but I haven't been able to find anything on the internet as to what they're ID-ing. I'm thinking keys or maybe pets (one has a dog on it). Does anyone know what these were used for in the early 20th century?
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I've dug a few over the years. Lost key return reward service tag. Popular around the world late 19th & early 20th century. Peace Roy
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Look like dog tags.
Wow! I'd like to collect those. Some states are probably very rare.
You could send a letter or two to the address and see what come up.....might be a relative still living there.
bob
Agree. except that I recall seeing a few come in the mail a few decades ago.
They morphed onto a more anonymous process where your own address was not displayed. but rather an organization that would receive them if lost keys were found and then forward to you. (Fund raising thing, for example).
How times have changed. Definitely a relic of the past. These days you would not want your name or address associated with your lost keys.
I think they definitely qualify as exonumia and would be very collectible. Maybe a new and growing niche area of collecting?
Along a similar line, both my grandmothers kept their house keys in small, folding key wallets and both of them had their complete names and addresses printed on a little card on the inside of the wallet so that folks could return the keys if they were ever lost.
Times change.
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They kept their home address with their house keys in case they were lost? Not sure that was a good idea.
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I assume these were for keys. I wonder how often anyone actually ever lost one and had it returned.
I also remember there used to be little key fobs that looked like a miniature license plate for your car, complete with the correct number, for people who wanted their car stolen if they dropped their keys in a parking lot.
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Those are the ones I remember. As I recall, they were sent out by some organization (veteran's?) and guaranteed return postage to their address if dropped in a mailbox. They would then be matched up in their database to your license plate and address.
They're all over eBay. One seller has a lot of 300 in a binder mounted in silver dollar 2x2s. Looks like it was the DAV that sent them out. Looks like some had the license plate number while others just had another serial number on them.
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My Dad (1904-1989) had one of those key tags on his car keys for years. Most are coin silver. I still have his somewhere. I also remember that you could get a little booklet from the DMV that listed all the plate numbers and addresses of the owners for your state for like 50 cents.
They are pretty neat looking. I wouldn't mind one for myself
Maybe put in a purse.
IIRC the DAV organization had something to do with these. I remember as a child my Dad had these. He was a Disabled American Veteran.
Confused on why they would include a date/year if they were keys?? (Or, are we mis-interpreting the numbers....)
I've still got one, with my birth year.
House & car keys too.
IIRC, the car was a woody station wagon.
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If the keys were ever lost, the date would be a helpful bit of information to the person who found them. If the year on the tag was current, the finder would know they were lost recently, and would presumably feel more of an urgency to return them. If the date was a decade old, there's a greater chance the keys would no longer be needed by the owner.
I don't know for a fact that this is why they did it, but it seems plausible.
Times certainly change....Then, it was assumed people were honest and moral...The assumption/reality is just the opposite today - sad. Cheers, RickO