Vintage Jester Pin
Maker unknown, date unknown
Metal and Enamel Paint
Dimensions Variable
Purchased from Hamilton Supercrawl, 2019
Personal collection
This vintage jester pin was acquired from a gumball machine during Hamilton’s Supercrawl in 2019, thus the origin and provenance for the object are unknown. As a result, this item offered an empty vessel for interpretation, without any existing meaning or history. It is interesting to contemplate how this object was passed on to me through a gumball machine and its potential role in the original collection.
Within my own collection of vintage and thrifted items, the pin contains a historical significance which contributes to the uniqueness of the object. This artifact is part of a larger body of enamel pins that represent various forms and subject matter; the jester pin, however, in particular becomes more meaningful due to its anonymity. The unknown nature of an object allows a new facet of interpretation, as I am free to define the object’s role in any manner and produce a more personal significance. The other pins in my collection were purchased with intention because of their symbolic meaning and associations, and have more distinct meanings as I am aware of their history and provenance.
The way in which I value the vintage pin demonstrates how I begin to look at things I already own or have been handed down to me as meaningful and significant. When choosing an object for the museum at this time, I was limited to what was available within my home. This pin was chosen due to the object’s fluid symbolic value and how it will evolve. The impact of this pandemic has forced me to think of objects I have and their uses in my life, and I recognize how this pin has become a tool of self-definition and identification. Vintage or thrifted pieces play a role in creating a unique and particular sense of self. Additionally, the pin will shape my own future collections and what I value about them, whether as sites of memory or connections to an imagined community. The interaction I have with this pin and the meaning it represents adds to my own concept of self and the values I associate with my collections. The availability of objects we have in our homes already become significant to our identity as we begin to recognize how our lives and collections are structured in a way that exhibits what we value, meaningful, and significant, indicating the personal resonance of our objects as tools of identity.
Sydney Zorony