50th Aero Squadron reunion watch fob (probably).

[pfrost]

Its been relatively slow on the forum, so....

 

Many years ago, I grabbed this out of a small antique mall in Northern Virginia.  Didn't pay much for it, but figured it was either a 50th Aero Squadron reunion watch fob OR an Old Dutch Cleanser advertising premium.  Its just been sitting in one of my Ricker mounts for some time, gather dust until I "rediscovered" it a couple of days ago. It is a watch fob, made by The Whitehead and Hoag Co, Newark NJ, and marked Rolled Gold.

 

 

 

Some back history... the 50th Aero Squadron was an observation squadron that saw a fair amount of combat in WWI.  Like most (all?) of the WWI aero squadrons that went overseas and fought in France, they adopted many of the French practices of decorating their airplanes with various symbols and designs.  Like many of the French squadrons, these American squadrons and pilots had small pins made up to wear on the uniform--and are HIGHLY sought after.  Other people (and I am looking at you, Chris!) know tons more than I do, but I always keep an eye out for these early pins (and have been rewarded with only finding this one for all my efforts).  As with anything, there are a fair amount of fakes I suspect that real ones (if they exist) are almost as common as unicorn farts.

 

The 50th chose "Old Dutch Cleanser --  IT CHASES DIRT" as their squadron insignia.  I suspect someone in GQ had a pretty good sense of humor.

 

Old Dutch was a cleaning product developed in 1905 by The Cudahy Packing Co. It was very popular and would have been a well-recognized brand in WWI.  It depicts a Dutch cleaning woman wearing red wooden shoes, a blue dress, a white apron and bonnet, carrying a stick. She is often depicted on a sun yellow background.

 

While I have seen various photos of 50th AS planes with this painted on their fuselage, some WWI vintage patches, and plenty of documentation of the Old Dutch Cleanser motif being used in WWI, I have never seen what I would consider a vintage (i.e. real) squadron pin.  But I have seen a couple (one!) other reunion piece watch fob that is twin to mine. This is offered on Bob Chat's site (I hope he doesn't mind the link, if so, I can remove it: https://www.vintageproductions.com/wwi-and-before/wwi-medals-and-metal-insignia/50th-aero-squadron-1st-reunion-watch-fob/). 

 

To be fair, Old Dutch was a very popular brand and you can find ALL SORTS of advertisement premiums.  From the front, it's nearly identical to mine but the back usually has the information on the company: 

 

 

 

to my mind the adverts seem cheaply made and less detailed, as you would expect. These are relatively common.

 

There are even some stick pins.  Again, relatively common, cheaply made, and with company information on the back.

 

 

 

You can probably find these all day on eBay and pay less than 20$ if you want one.

 

So, I am pretty sure I didn't find a National Treasure with my watch fob (it is what it is), but having shared some images with the Wing Ding Brain Trust (and you guys know who you are), I think it is fair to say that my little fob has a good chance of being a reunion piece to the 50 AS.  These reunions were rather popular in the late 20s and into the 30s, and one can imagine the reunion committee reaching out to Whitehead and Hoag to get a box of fobs to hand out.

 

I would love any other input.

 

P