All Medals

The medal's obverse bears female figure holding stylized caduceus in one hand, other held high, pointing to the right; symbols of industry and agriculture including steam train, telegraph wires, factories, corn cobs in background and at figure's feet. Around, TRANS-MISSISSIPPI AND INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION. / OMAHA; below, U.S.A / 1898

The medal's reverse bears wreath fashioned from two branches.  Below, S.D. CHILDS & CO. ENGRAVERS. CHICAGO.

The circular medal was struck by S. D. Childs & Co. of Chicago.

The medal's obverse bears buffalo on mound, palm tree and four female figures representing the three native American and colonial European cultures. In exergue, THE THREE AMERICAS; above exergue at right, PHILA.

The reverse bears wreath of corn, cotton and tobacco around legend. In center field, AWARDED BY / THE / NORTH CENTRAL / AND / SOUTH AMERICAN / EXPOSITION / 1885 - 86 / NEW ORLEANS.

This is a very handsome exposition medal. I find it particularly interesting how the design incorporates four figures instead of the more commonly expected three.  Thus the figures become representative of  culture rather than geography.

The circular medal measures 73.2mm in diameter. No mintage is known.

The medal's obverse bears portrait of Vail, facing. Around, on raised rim, THEODORE NEWTON VAIL / HE MADE NEIGHBORS OF HVNDRED MILLION PEOPLE; signed, barely visibly, over right shoulder, LUINI

The reverse bears old-fashioned phone receivers connected by wires on raised rim. In center field, PRESENTED · BY · THE / AMERICAN · TELEPHONE · AND / TELEGRAPH · CO · TO · THE · TELEPHONE / PIONEERS · OF · AMERICA · AS · A / MEMORIAL · TO · HIM · WHOSE · LIFE / CHARACTER · AND · INDUSTRY · WERE / AN · INSPIRATION · TO · THE / MEMBERS · OF · THAT · SOCIETY / MONTREAL (oak leaves) CANADA / SEPTEMBER · 10 · 1920

This is the first version of the Theodore Newton Vail medal. It was delineated by Harry Bates Thayer, company president, honoring famed American telephone pioneer and company founder Theodore Newton Vail.  The medal was only issued for the four years between 1917 and 1920.  Adolph A. Weinman designed and modeled the later version of the medal that was used from 1922 onwards.

The circular medal measures 76.6mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by Tiffany & Co. of New York. No mintage is reported. The medal probably exists in at least silver, probably even a few pieces in gold, but I have not seen any evidence of those variants.

References:   MACo 1949-016

The uniface medallion bears flag with Goodyear logo. From large number at left, around top, 45 - YEARS OF FRIENDLY RELATIONS; under waving flag, incuse, WHATEVER IS BEST / FOR THE CONSUMER / IS BEST FOR THE / DEALER AND THE / MANUFACTURER

This is the 45 year version of Rene Chambellan's Goodyear series of medallions. All of these medallions came mounted to a wooden board to be hung in offices or shops that were selling Goodyear product.

Dick Johnson's reference does not list this medallion under Chambellan, in fact it does not have a reference to it at all. Like all other Goodyear medallions, this one also is not edge-marked, so both the attribution to Chambellan and to the Medallic Art Company are a bit tenuous.  A query to the Goodyear Company has remained unanswered so far.  I'll keep it with the artist and mint attributions until someone with better information can correct the record.

The circular medallion measures 100.8mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company. No mintage is reported.

The medal's obverse bears portrait of William Fahnestock. Around top, · FAHNESTOCK · & · CO · ; To left, WILLIAM / FAHNESTOCK / FOUNDER; to right, 1881 / 1931; signed above right shoulder, (JSR monogram)

The medal's reverse bears a beautifully detailed street scene of New York's Wall Street. To left, WALL / STREET; to right, 1881; signed at bottom, (JSR monogram)

William Fahnestock (1858-1936) beccame the youngest member of the New York Stock exchange at age 23. A year later, he opened the doors to Fahnestock & Co with his father, Harris C. Fahnestock, at 2 Wall Street. After a series of consolidations and mergers, the firm is now part of Oppenheimer & Co., Inc.

The circular medal measures 76mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York.  No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1931-001, Marqusee 355

The medal's obverse bears conjoined busts of Marie Depage and Edith Clavell, facing left, with laurel branch behind them. Around, MARIE DEPAGE - EDITH CAVELL; signed on truncation, A BONNETAIN / 1919

The reverse bears legend only, 1915 / REMEMBER

Marie Depage and Edith Cavell were heroines of World War I on the Allied side. Marie Depage was the wife of the prominent doctor Antoine Depage, who was a surgeon to the Belgian King.  In 1907 she founded a laicised non-denominational medical institute in 1907, the Berkendael Medical Institute (also known as L'École Belge d’Infirmières Diplômées), in Uccle near Brussels, with British Edith Cavell as head nurse.

Depage travelled to the US in January 1915 to raise funds for the L'Océan hospital. After raising $100,000 in a few weeks, she received news that her middle son Lucien would be joining her eldest son Pierre at the front, and decided to return to Belgium. She booked passage on the RMS Lusitania, leaving New York on 1 May 1915 for Liverpool via Queenstown in the south of Ireland. The ship was torpedoed by German submarine U-20 at about 2:10 pm on 7 May 1915, and rapidly sank. Depage assisted other passengers to board lifeboats, and treated some injured on the deck of the sinking vessel. As the ship sank, she became entangled in ropes and drowned, one of nearly 1,200 killed from almost 2,000 aboard.

Edith Cavell continued to work at the Berkendael Medical Institute, where she helped hundreds of allied soldiers escape.  Her humanitarian actions, which she freely confessed after her arrest, rendered the normal protections accorded to medical personnel void. She was court-martialed, sentenced to death for treason and, despite international pleas for mercy, executed by firing squad.

Both women were celebrated as martyrs and heroines and monuments as well as medals commemorate their lives and deaths.

The circular medal measures 58mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by Jules Fonson and Company. No mintage is reported.

The medal's obverse features a powerful, god-like figure carrying in his arms a limp body; in background, towering cloud with lightning and waves. Around, MIDLAND · UTILITIES · MEDAL; in exergue, · 1928 (AF monogram)

The reverse bears burning candle. Around, AWARDED · IN · RECOGNITION · OF / GREAT · PUBLIC · SERVICE · IN / SAVING · HUMAN · LIFE; at bottom; · TO · / ALBERT - FARMER / · 19 - 33 ·

The edge is marked MEDALLIC ART CO. N.Y. SILVER

De Francisci designed this medal for the Midland Utilities Company as an award given to people who had saved a human life. The medals were expensively customized for each recipient and certainly not mass-produced.

This particular medal was awarded to Albert Farmer of Terre Haute, Indiana. Mr. Farmer, who worked as a railroad lineman for the Indiana Railroad Company, resuscitated the 4 year old Harry Sumner, saving him from drowning on July 31st, 1932.

The medal was first awarded in 1929. In 1933, the year in which this medal was awarded, only five life saving medal were awarded, providing an indication of the rarity of this medal.

The medal measures 64mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintages are reported.

References:   Baxter 350, MACo 1928-060, Marqusee 135

The obverse bears two nude babies. Above, BETTER BABIES. The reverse bears a field for the name of the recipient and the following legend: BETTER - BABIES - MEDAL / AWARDED BY / THE / WOMAN'S / HOME COMPANION; signed LAURA FRASER / SCULPTOR. The medal is edgemarked © CROWELL PUB. CO. 1913

Elaine Leotti, in her paper "The American Woman Medalist," comments:

"Fraser's Better Babies Medal done in 1913 for the Woman's Home Companion is her only piece which can truly be called feminine. It is a well balanced medal, nicely executed if a bit on the sentimental side. The babies' bare flesh is soft, almost palpable, their curls and dimpled elbows invite touch, thus appealing to exactly the audience the medal was meant to impress."

Today, the title "Better Babies" almost invariably elicits a wince or a giggle. What was the background for this medal? As the Eugenics Archive of Cold Harbor Spring Laboratory puts it:

At the beginning of the 20th century, citizens concerned about high infant mortality in the United States took up the call of "baby saving." These initiatives relied on standards for normal child development, as well as input from healthcare professionals and public health officials. Better Babies Contests addressed this concern for child welfare and physical development, becoming the first eugenic competitions held at state fairs.

The first "Scientific Baby Contest" to combine these standards was initiated by Mary DeGarmo in 1908 at the Louisiana State Fair. DeGarmo linked the competitions to the social efficiency movement and its call for standardized homes, roads, and schools. Many Progressives believed that such standardization would improve the lives of young children.

With the assistance of Dr. Jacob Bodenheimer, measures of contestants' physical and intellectual development were carefully recorded. Winning contestants often appeared in graduation gowns and were presented with "loving cups" to mark their achievement. By 1913, the Woman's Home Companion magazine co-sponsored the contests, which were simply known as "Better Babies Contests." The magazine presented certificates signed by DeGarmo and Bodenheimer documenting that winners had "a sound mind in a sound body."

Mary T. Watts and Florence Brown Sherbon had organized Better Babies in Iowa in 1911. However, in 1920 they were provided new evaluation forms by Charles Davenport, who was then a member of the American Association for the Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality (AASPIM). Using Davenport's forms, they organized the first "Fitter Families for Future Firesides Competition" at the Kansas State Free Fair. Watts and Sherbon added a hereditarian explanation for human differences to the Better Babies Contests' earlier focus on child development and welfare. Thus they completed the transformation of Scientific Baby Contests to a vehicle popularizing eugenic ideas.

The medal exists in a 33mm gold and a 51mm bronze variant. The Medallic Art Company struck it between 1912 and some time in the mid twenties and the total mintage is probably in the hundreds.

Sourced from the excellent E-Sylum and the Eugenics Archive.

References:   Baxter 355, MACo 1913-005