Grecon Brooches - Part I

Some time last year I repatriated these two lovely Grecons who had been living in Canada:

They are typical dolls' house size Grecons and, judging by their feet, they date to the mid 1940s/early 1950s.

And look - they both have safety pins in the back! Presumably they were intended to be worn as brooches.

The question is, were they sold like this or did the person who bought them add the safety pins?

Unfortunately, unless new information such as old adverts or catalogue entries come to light, we might never know the answer.

If I absolutely had to stake my money somewhere, I think I'd say that the owner added the safety pins.  Both of these dolls came to me from Canada and they came together but their pins are different so I'm thinking that someone just added what safety pins she had in her sewing box to convert them into brooches. But, that's just my guess.

What is more certain, however, is that these little fellows were made to be worn as brooches.

They don't have labels but as far as I'm concerned, they have unmistakable Grecon features.

I think that all three brooches probably date to the 1930s/40s, however, I think that this one featuring Beefeater guards is the earliest.

My guess is that it was made pre-war (1936-1939) as a souvenir of London. That's because I've prodded one of the heads with a fine pin (I know - I'm awful!) and found that, in common with the earliest Grecon dolls, these little fellows have heads made from a small half-round wooden button/bead (padded at the back) with a hole through the middle.  This probably dates them to the late 1930s. 

These chaps clearly represent the British Airforce, Army and Navy and it's likely that they were made and sold during WWII (1939-1945) to raise money for 'the war effort'.  

They have completely padded, soft heads - no wooden bead/button in there. The pin on the back is the same as on the Beefeater brooch, but I think that the soft heads indicate that they are probably slightly later in date and that would fit with the WWII dates too.

And that just leaves these little Grenadier Guards in their bearskin hats which are made from a lovely soft velvet.  Again, the heads are entirely soft and don't contain a wooden bead/button.

I am certainly no expert on safety pins but the one on the back of this brooch looks to be to be of a later design to the others since the pin point is completely enclosed in a safety guard in much the same way they are on modern safety pins. 

Being Grenadiers in dress uniform, as seen parading around Buckingham Palace, it's possible that they were made for sale to tourists returning to London again after the war.

Another reason for thinking that these Grenadiers are the latest in date of the three brooches is that that they have distinctly sideways-looking eyes. That sideways glance seems to be a feature of Grecon dolls with later, slightly smaller Melon feet which I believe date to the end of the WWII and the mid 1940s (when lead for feet was harder to come by). Grecondale's Captain Richard Clutch, seen above, is a prime example of the sideways-glancing smaller melon foot Grecon.

So there we have it - my musings on Grecon brooches. And that is all they are, musings. My blog helps me to get my thoughts and ideas together on these matters but what I write is by no means intended to be authoritative and I always welcome feedback as to the accuracy of my assumptions and guesswork - it's the only way to learn!

Until next time,
Zoe

[P.S. For anyone who is interested, a full account of my thoughts on dating Grecons by means of their feet and features can be found on my 'About Grecon Dolls' blog page here.]