Bell Trading 1950's Sterling Badges

[gpspartans]

I have expert with rifle bar & marksman no bar. marksman has GI mark for IOH. both are sterling. don't know much about the company. photos not ready. can anybody shed light on these/company?

[5thwingmarty]

Bell made/sold sterling and copper items in the southwest. During WWII they made/sold a lot of USAAF wings. Their 2" and 3" government issue wings were only marked sterling, no manufacturer hallmarks. Some smaller sweetheart wings did get Bell hallmarks. At some point Bell started making/selling the army badges such as yours which have the Bell Trading hallmark of the suspended sign with a bell on the sign.

 

There is debate over whether Bell actually made any of their military wings/badges or if they were like Luxemburg which had their military items made by someone else and then sold them under their name.

 

Along with the wings and badges, Bell also made/sold other military insignia. I have a brass enlisted cap device on a Bell Trading Company sales card. There is nothing distinctive about the cap device, and it is not hallmarked.

 

If you google Bell Trading Company some sites will pop up with more general info on the company.

[gpspartans]

thanks

[5thwingmarty]

Here is a photo of my wing collection. Most of the wings are from Bell. The two cards are typical of those from Bell, and have the company name and address at the bottom.

 

Marty

 

 

[5thwingmarty]

Also, here are images of typical Bell hallmarks. The first is what I have seen on a few WWII sweetheart-sized wings. The other two are on other Bell sold souvenir items. One of them has two different Bell hallmarks, including the hanging sign like is on your badge.

Marty

 

[gpspartans]

thanks