The Trade Union Badge: Material Culture in Action
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"The Trade Union Badge: Much of the nineteenth-century British labour movement was characterised by impressive membership emblems and banners. The lapel badge emerged towards the end of the century and signalled a further outward expression of self-worth, affording the trade union member a personal symbol of a collective identity." This study of the history of the trade union badge provides an insight into the use and importance of visual symbolism in everyday life. It asserts the validity of such popular material culture as a lens through which to study underlying issues of identity and belonging, which are key themes in collecting. Whilst centred on the British trade union movement, the book draws substantially on Ireland, Australia and the USA for comparison, and to set the badge's importance in an international perspective.BooknewsAdding information of his own and by other collectors and professionals to his 1988 dissertation for the Ruskin College History Diploma, Martin concentrates on the historical and contemporary presence and persistence of the trade union badge as an example of an apparently ephemeral and innocuous material object carrying heavy symbolic meaning. He discusses its origins and development, its role in the struggle for union recognition, its pervasion and the contraction of the union, the manufacturers, post-function collecting and display, and other aspects. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
ForewordGeneral Preface to the SeriesPrefaceAcknowledgementsList of illustrationsIntroduction: Here We Go, Here We Go, Here We Go (And How We Got Here)Ch. 1Of Emblems, Banners and Badges: The Triple Alliance1Ch. 2The Lapel Emblazoned: The Origins and Development of the Trade Union Badge21Ch. 3To Fight, To Struggle, To Right The Wrong: The Badge and the Struggle for Union Recognition49Ch. 4An Epoch Of Minority Symbolism? The Pervasion of the Badge and the Contraction of the Union97Ch. 5The Manufacturers129Ch. 6Collect And Display: Post-Function137Ch. 7This Is What I Am165App. 1Selected Replies To The Labour Research Survey171App. 2The Badge and Medallion In Song and Rhyme173App. 3The Kokuro / ITF Survey Questionnaire175App. 4The History of Thomas Fattorini Ltd177App. 5Explanations of Two Badge Designs179Bibliography181Index193
