Guest post by Blake Childress
History of the Trading Pin
Trading Pins are a huge part of baseball and the history behind the trading pin is even more intriguing. Have you ever wondered where the trading pin began? Well look no further because you’re reading the right article. Many sports teams from youth leagues to professional teams engage in designing, creating, and trading pins as a way to promote team cohesion and team positivity among players and fans. The history of trading pins are what really makes trading pins a lot of fun.
Origin of the Trading Pin
Let us reverse the clock backwards to the 1920s when a local bakery in Rochester, New York first began distributing trading pins which actually featured some of the local baseball players. The pins were offered either as a collection or they came in a multi- pack.
Rewinding back even further in time, let us point our compass overseas to Athens, Greece near the end of the 19th century. Olympic games were taking place and different countries needed a way to uniquely identify themselves, so each country had a different color on a disc made of cardboard. Over time, distributing, actually wearing, and trading pins eventually evolved into the trend that we still know today.
Trading Pins continued to grow in popularity because officials and athletes had a lot of interaction amongst each other. Every country participating in the Olympics had its own featured pin. Shortly after, spectators and fans wanted in on the action, ultimately becoming involved in the trading and collecting of trading pins. Olympic organizers eventually had to decrease the production of trading pins in order to maintain exclusivity.
Moving forward to the 1940s, baseball pin collecting and trading became a very popular activity. Fans and enthusiasts began having their own pin trading events and the tradition of trading pins has never slowed down.
Pin Traders Today
What is a Pinhead? Pinheads are your modern day junkies who have collections of trading pins, and have a wide variety of colors, and usually have trading pins of their favorite players or teams. Some pins are actually worth a little money depending on the age of the pin and how many pins of a certain type are available. Trading Pins is actually a lot of fun and it actually brings a lot of people together. Do you want to be a part of the history and tradition that trading pins offer? What are you waiting for? Start today and become a part of a tradition that began in the 19th century. Whether you are a team, fan, or player you need to look no further than www.tradingpinsdirect.com to help you become a part of trading pin history.
Thanks for helping me understand the history of baseball trading bins. I didn’t know that organizers had to decrease production of trading pins so that they could maintain exclusivity. I’m kind of interested to learn how many pins are generally made or if it depends on the event.