Bliss St. and Indigo Heirlooms

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote the poem “Dead Rose”

O Rose! who dares to name thee?
No longer roseate now, nor soft, nor sweet;
But pale, and hard, and dry, as stubble-wheat, -
Kept seven years in a drawer-thy titles shame thee.

Here in this pin is a wilting rose, not quite dead but loved and held close.

Size: 1 1/4in
Material: Base metal, enamel
Circa: 1950′s

1960′s variety of the Famous Heinz Pickle.

Size: 1 1/4 in
Material: plastic
Circa: 1960

Heinz ad “A man who found himself in a pickle… was saved by one.”

Want to know how? here is the story.

It was 1893. Heinz company was in trouble at the time. His booth was out-of-the-way in the upper gallery of the Agricultural Building at the Chicago World’s Fair. . Heinz had an idea though, he would make a pickle pin, much like this one. The public would help advertise for him. At the time this was revolutionary in marketing. He hired children to put out tokens. If you found a token you went to his booth and got a free pickle and a free pickle pin. People got excited at the idea of a hunt for tokens and getting something for free. He gave out a million

From Wiki- “The success of the pickle pin promotion has achieved almost legendary status, including a story that several of the first-floor fair exhibitors sued Heinz for unfair competition, while the second floor vendors, swamped with guests because of the traffic Heinz drew, threw a gala dinner in his honor.”

This pendant has a lot of detail in the enamel coloring. Notice the bluing of the fin to make to look like it is in motion, the stripping of the scales and the touches of red one of the hardest colors to enamel. Each well of brass is filled separately. This is a fish with personality

There is an air hole in the bottom (so it doesn’t explode in the kiln shows in picture), a small chip on the fin (see pic three) and separation that happened during firing(also in pic three). None of this takes away from the artistry of the piece.

Size: Just over 1 1/2in by 1 3/8in
Material: Brass, enamel(glass)
Circa: 1970′s