by Midnight Freemasons Contributor
Todd E. Creason, 33°
My friend William J. Hussey told me a story last October about a
friend of his that wore so many Masonic pins on his jacket you couldn't even
see his lapels--he even wore them across the back of his collar. One day, he was walking by the pool at his
hotel on his way to a meeting, slipped, and fell in. Fortunately, he was able to slip out of his
jacket before the weight of the lapel pins took him down to a watery
grave. But the jacket was so heavy, they
couldn't retrieve it from the bottom of the pool. They finally got it up, but only after they
brought in the big crane from the scrap yard--the one with the giant magnet
they used to lift old cars into the crusher.
Now Bill Hussey might be the Grand High Priest of the Illinois Royal
Arch, but I've known him for a long time.
Let's just say I have good reason to question one or two points in his
version of the story. I've never met his
friend, but according to Bill Hussey, he's easy to pick out of a crowd--he's
the guy with all the rusty pins on his lapels.
Like I said--not sure about this story at all.
But one thing is true--Masons love lapel pins more than any other
group in existence today (the American Legion running a close second). Grand Masters make them up and hand them out
to commemorate their term. Lodges make
them up to celebrate special events and anniversaries. There are appendant body pins. There are officer pins. There are Past Master pins. There are pins given as service awards. There are pins only given out to Masons that
have achieved a certain honor. There are
anniversary pins that celebrate the number of years a man has been a
Mason--when I was Master of my Lodge I awarded one of those to a 70-year Master
Mason! There are lady pins for our
wives. There are pins you receive when
you give blood at a Masonic Blood Drive.
There are pins we give to Masonic widows. There are pins worn by Master Masons that
served in the military. Often the most
unique and beautiful pins are ones commissioned and sold to raise money for a
specific causes like the Shriners Hospitals or the Scottish Rite Learning
Centers. One of my personal favorites is
my Midnight Freemasons pin. Brother
Robert Johnson had lapel pins made for the original contributors of this
blog. Pins come in all sizes, shapes,
colors, designs, and metals. Some are
very expensive because they are made from gold, silver or platinum, but the vast
majority of pins aren't worth more than a few dollars.
And one thing all the Masons I know have in common is they all
own a bunch of pins. And I don't know
any Masons that don't wear at least one of these Masonic pins on their jacket
lapels. And many Masons collect
them. I've collected so many over the
years I started sticking them in a piece of cork board on my office wall--makes
it easy to select new pins when it is time to freshen up the jacket lapels.
Some Masons only wear one, some a few, and others, like Bill
Hussey's friend, wear as many pins as they have room on their lapels to
display. And before I start the same
kind of controversy and discussion as Brian Schimian and I started with our
piece about Masonic rings (points up or points down?) let me quickly say I
believe how many pins you wear on your lapels is purely a matter of personal
taste!
And Masons share pins.
Greg Knott and I (Greg is also a Midnight Freemasons contributor) joined
the Tall Cedars of Lebanon recently in Indianapolis. We had a great time, and afterwards, we
received pins, and pins, and pins. One
of the members there was friends with the current Grand Master of Tennessee, so
Greg and I both have the Grand Master of Tennessee's pin--not many Illinois
Masons have that particular pin. I know
a lot of Masons that when they find an interesting pin, they don't buy just
one--they buy two. They keep one, and
they save one to give to a friend. I
enjoy doing that, too.
And there are special pins.
I remember helping a group of Scottish Rite Masons turn a costume room
upside down one time looking for a pin that had been lost. It was a pin that had belonged to the Mason's
dad, and had been given to him when he was raised a Master Mason. We finally found it, too. It was stuck in the sole of one of our
shoes. It wasn't gold or silver or
platinum. It wasn't worth much at
all. Just a pin like you can buy any day
of the week for $5 from the J.P. Luther catalogue. But he was certainly very relieved to have it
back. The value of a thing isn't always
what it's worth intrinsically, it's what it means to the man who proudly wears
it.
I don't know exactly when Masonic pins came into fashion amongst
Masons--probably about the time pocket watches went out along with Masonic
watch chain fobs. But I do know it's a
time honored part of a Mason's "uniform" along with the ring. And even the best collector in the world will
ever own one of each.
I've said it many times before, but for a secret society, we sure
don't do a very good job at the "secret" part when we wear so much
information about our Masonic affiliations right on the lapels of our jackets.
~TEC
Todd E. Creason, 33° is the founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and continues to be a regular contributor. He is the author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is member of Homer Lodge No. 199, and a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL). He is a member the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, the York Rite Bodies of Champaign/Urbana (IL), the Ansar Shrine (IL), Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, and Charter President of the Illini High Twelve in Champaign-Urbana (IL). You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org
Todd E. Creason, 33° is the founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and continues to be a regular contributor. He is the author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is member of Homer Lodge No. 199, and a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL). He is a member the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, the York Rite Bodies of Champaign/Urbana (IL), the Ansar Shrine (IL), Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, and Charter President of the Illini High Twelve in Champaign-Urbana (IL). You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org
Pins are pretty much an American lodge fascination. Most European Masons wear no pins or rings, and UGLE does not allow pins or ties with masonic logos/crests during Grand Lodge.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting... we begin our journey being divested of anything metallic, then begin a life of collecting metal pins that represent the different areas within the craft. And I agree, as monetarily inexpensive as they are, we sure do become attached to them.
ReplyDelete