Vintage 1940's Collector's AMERICANA Sterling Silver charm bracelet with33 charms

Celebration of an American Life - 1940's. Here we have a truly vintage, one-of-a-kind collector's charm bracelet. The charms on this bracelet were collected by my mother, during her youth. There are 33 wonderful charms in all. Each one representing something prominent in her life or commemorating a special event.

It is an interesting collection of charms and a rare look into a typical young woman's life in 1940's America. I have not cleaned this bracelet. All charms are vintage Sterling Silver and the bracelet chain is also vintage Sterling Silver.

I left it with the original patina. The lobster-claw clasp is made of Sterling as well, but this was put on in the mid-1980's after the original clasp broke. The bracelet is in excellent age-appropriate condition and has been stored in our home safe. She gave this bracelet to me 10 years ago, and she has since passed-on.

While I love it, it is just not practical for me to wear and it just sits there in the safe and I take it out once a year and look at it. Many of the charms are "articulated" charms, which means that they have moving parts, like doors and wheels or levers/handles, etc. I'm going to describe each charm and a little history about the charm, as I think the new owner would like to know the history of the bracelet, and because it represents an important era.

As a child I used to sit on her lap and play with it on her wrist and she told me about the charms over and over again, so I know the charms and their histories by heart. The first charm on the bracelet was the first charm she bought. And this represents the air raid sirens that were tested in her neighborhood, on a regular basis, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. So this charm dates to late 1941 or early 1942. The second charm is a 3-piece charm.

It is a heart, a cross and an anchor. Which is also known as "Faith, Hope, and Love", but it was given to her by her then boyfriend (my future father) who enlisted in the Navy and was stationed in the Pacific Realm during most of WWII. The third charm is a funny little charm. It is called "Sam & Lew", and it is indicitive of the time and fairly rare. The outhouse door opens up to reveal 2 little black men sitting side-by-side in the privy.

This was a gift to her from my Dad. The fourth charm is a drum from the Revolutionary War period. This was another gift sent to her by my father, for one Fourth of July.

It has an American Eagle on the top skin of the drum. The fifth charm is a rickshaw. She and her sister went for a rickshaw ride in Chinatown in San Francisco and I think her sister gave this to her. This is an articulated charm. The sixth charm is a Dutch windmill from Solvang, California. This is another articulated charm. The family stopped-off in the unique theme town of Solvang on the way back down from The Bay Area, and her father bought this charm for her (and also one for her sister, my aunt).

The seventh charm is a WWII airplane. My mother worked in the Boeing Aircraft factory in El Segundo during WWII. She worked in the'parts crib', issuing tools and parts to the factory line workers (most of whom were women) This harkens back to "Rosie the Riviter".

I don't know who gave her this charm, but it was to represent her time at the factory and for her participation in the war effort. The eighth charm is a lion. My mother was a Leo and someone gave this to her on one of her birthdays during the'40's.

The ninth charm is an anchor. My Dad in the Navy (they were now married and he was still stationed in the Pacific), gave her this charm, as well as the tenth charm, a bell (which is suppose to represent a ships' bell) and the eleventh charm, which is a cute depiction of an actual sailor standing "at ease". The twelveth charm is a cowboy hat. I really don't know the origin of this charm, but I think an uncle gave it to her. The thirteenth charm is really unique.

It's another moving or articulated charm. It is a garden pesticide sprayer that has a plunger that moves in and out.

She was fond of roses and pruning roses and someone gave this to her as a cute little gift to remind her of her roses. The fourteenth charm is a horseshoe, for Good Luck. The fifteenth charm is a violin, because she liked Jack Benny and his radio show.

The sixteenth charm is a lantern. Her family had gone on a camping trip and she got the lantern shortly afterward, to remember the trip. The seventeenth charm is an articulated charm. It is a standing dust pan.

The dustpan tilts up and down. The eighteenth charm is a tennis racket. Like most ladies of the day, who emulated Hollywood stars, she dabbled in tennis (but was never very good) (legs were too short). The nineteenth charm on the bracelet is a grouping of 3 individual puffy hearts. My Dad gave this charm to her on the 3rd anniversary of the day they met.

The twentieth charm is a Greek'fermeli', or vest, which is part of the National costume of Greece. It was bought by my Mom at a Greek festival. She was half Greek, so this is a nod to her heritage.

The twenty-first charm is a horses' head inside of a horse shoe. This was bought in the gift shop at Santa Anita racetrack, during a days' outing to the races, sometime in 1946 or 1947. This was also from the trip to Santa Anita, in the hopes they were going to win big. The twenty-third charm is a 1940's womans' shoe. The twenty-fourth charm is another articulated charm.

It is a 1940's tanker truck and the 4 wheels turn. My Dad was briefly employed as a truck driver after the war, so that is the significance of this charm. The twenty-fifth charm is also an articulated charm.

And the stopper comes out. The twenty-seventh charm is some kind of a roller. Like the roller that might have been used to lay asphalt.

I don't remember a story connected to this charm, however. It is unique and it is articulated.

The twenty-eighth charm is a park bench, because she liked to feed the pigeons at the park. The twenty-ninth charm is an articulated charm.

It is a waffle iron and the lid lifts to reveal the waffle plates. Both my Mom and Dad liked waffles... The thirtieth charm is a rocking chair, given to her by a family member, because she had recently learned she was pregnant (with my brother). The thirty-first charm is another articulated charm. It is a tiny ironing board that you can open and close.

It was for all those diapers she was going to have to wash, etc. The thirty-second charm is another cowboy hat. Someone gave this to her, but it didn't have any real significance, but she put it on the bracelet anyway, because it was a gift.

The last charm, the thirty-third charm, is a baby carriage, that was given to her when my brother (her first child) was born in 1948. And that was the last charm she bought or received, because the time for collecting charms was over. No longer a girl, she was a real woman with real responsibilities now.

And besides, the bracelet is jammed-packed with charms. I don't think she could have fit another one on it if she tried. I hate to part with this bracelet, but I do not have children to pass it on to, and the roof is leaking. I think Mom would understand.

I absolutely guarantee bracelet to be authentic and vintage. If you have any questions, please feel free to message me. This bracelet is a small piece of American history.

It would make a lovely and significant gift for someone very special. We do not sell defective or inferior merchandise. The item "Vintage 1940's Collector's AMERICANA Sterling Silver charm bracelet with33 charms" is in sale since Thursday, May 1, 2014.

This item is in the category "Jewelry & Watches\Vintage & Antique Jewelry\Fine\Charms & Charm Bracelets". The seller is "societyforputtingthingsontopofotherthings" and is located in Springfield, South Carolina. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, South africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi arabia, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia, Brazil, Colombia, Martinique, Peru, Paraguay, Viet nam, Uruguay.

Modified Item: No
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Certification: Genuine OLD Sterling Silver charms
Material: Sterling Silver (vintage)
California Prop 65 Warning: Not Applicable
Type: individually collected charms during the 1940's
Metal Purity: .925 Sterling Silver
Main Stone: No Stone
Metal: Sterling Silver charms and bracelet
Brand: personal vintage collection