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A very young Messenger at the Festival of Youth in June 1944. I can find nothing online about this particular festival. There's an interesting beret badge on display and one I currently don't recognise. If you have any ideas, drop me a message.  A very young Civil Defence messenger in 1944
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Another scarce WW2-period FIRE GUARD lapel badge has appeared on the tat bazaar. I've seen the design before. Be interesting to see how high this one goes.  Fire Guard Badge A visitor to the blog emailed me about the recent sale of three NARPAC (National Air Raid Precautions for Animals Committee) badges that were sold on eBay - an Animal Steward (sold for £127) a Chief Guard (sold for £75) and a District Organiser (sold for £80) - see the badges below with the wooden background. They mentioned that there was some discussion on a Facebook forum about the originality of the badges. I have to admit that I saw the badges for sale and had a quick look. I thought they were original due to the correct half-moon lapel fixture to the rear plus the maker's mark of 'VAUGHTONS LTD B'HAM'. All the known fake and reproduction badges have a pin and clasp. The front of the badges are in very good condition (which can happen, of course) but the central cross is in black enamel. I have a few NARPAC badges and they have a dark blue central cross. I had a look at badges I have saved and also badges sold online by Bosley's and all have a blue central cross (see four examples below). Differences in enamel colour on badges is known, for example, the blue and black versions of the 'REST CENTRE' lapel badges.  NARPAC badges with blue central cross I have added at the bottom two images of a Chief Guard and a District Organiser for comparison. There does appear to be a few oddities between them. The red enamel looks different (the eBay badges have a distinct pattern emerging through the enamel) and the lettering isn't quite the same (it's close) but look at the size of the full stops and some letters like the 'M's and especially the 'S's in ANIMALS. On the originals the top of the 'S' is much larger than seen on the two black-centred examples. The District Organiser appears to have two different 'S's - one in animals and one in organiser. The use of DIST. and DISṬ (the dot below the T) is seen on other original badges, so it is not evidence of reproduction in of itself. However, the original examples of the District Organiser with a blue enamel background all appear to have the T above the point below (the white background examples (see above) have DIST.). None of the recent eBay sales have a number engraved on the rear; my examples all have an issue number (but these are all brooch style, where it is probably easier to add a number). The three black-centred cross examples could be original variations but I'm inclined right now to be wary of them. If we see more examples cropping up for sale we may have a new reproduction on the market. If these are indeed reproductions then the production methods have obviously ticked up in quality (disturbingly so...). I'd be more than interested to hear the opinions of others. Update: I received this message from the seller of the badges: Hi I’m the seller in question regarding these Animal service ARP badges. Firstly I am also a serious collector of Homefront badges (mainly ARP). These animal service badges are definitely 100% genuine. They were purchased from a collector that has had them for many years. The story behind them (which he is absolutely adamant is true) is they are a slightly later variant of the ones that are far more common. They are also “Unissued” hence the lack of a serial number on the reverse. I have kept a couple for my own personal collection, a couple of nice DVO versions. I have never seen any more of these for sale anywhere and I don’t expect to find any either. They did not come cheap! The collectors that purchased the ones that I decided to sell also seem happy as positive feedback has been left. I do see that there may be a little concern as they do look quite new but this is definitely due to the fact that they have not seen duty. Yes I suppose time will definitely tell if anymore further examples turn up but personally I would bet a reasonable amount they won’t. I hope this somewhat adds some clarity to any suspicions.  NARPAC Animal Steward Enamel Badge - black central cross  NARPAC Chief Guard Enamel Badge - black central cross  NARPAC District Organiser Enamel Badge - black central cross
A very scarce Rover ARP Shelter badge sold on eBay for £120 (plus £4 shipping). Rare and sought after badges are still commanding high prices and this badge had two punters outbidding each other.  Rover ARP Shelter Pin Badge I picked up this Women's Institute badge in Lincoln for a fiver. I have a blog about the various WI badges that were issued and this particular badge has the addition of a LINDSEY scroll and was made by W. O. Lewis (Badges) Ltd. I don't know if this is pre- or post-war issue currently, though examples that have been sold often state Second World War. Lindsey functioned as an administrative county with its own county council from 1889 until local government reorganization in 1974, when it largely merged into modern Lincolnshire. It appears the council was keen to order items emblazoned with LINDSEY and various air raid welfare badges, armbands, area markings etc. exist with Lindsey on them can be found.  Women's Institute For Home And Country Lindsey Badge  Women's Institute For Home And Country Lindsey W. O. Lewis |
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