[Tidbits] Fur Clips

Ann Blyth–Joan Crawford–Ann Miller–Hedy Lamarr (the most
beautiful of them all and the inventor of cell phone technology)…
they all wore fur clips.

But here’s the thing of it. I’m in the jewelry business for 0ver 50
years and till this week I never even heard of fur clips. Is this
something women wear with their furs… or is it something you put on
your dog in order to enhance its appearance? As it turns out…
both…though it is in reference to the first that this tidbits
addresses itself.

I have books… I have magazines… I am laden and loaded and
stuffed and crammed to the gills with tomes of all shapes and sizes
and colors to the point of a madman’s dream of a literary descent
into hell surfing through the fiery inferno on the spine of a
hard-cover book published by Simon and Schuster. And yet… I have
nothing on fur clips.

What little info that follows is all I could glean. If any of you
have more … by all means pass it on. They were popular from the
20’s thru the 50’s. Trifari and Polcini and Carnegie were among many
that jumped on what appears to have been a bandwagon of ultimate
obscurity in order to make this item. And last… I do believe I read
somewhere that they were first invented in Czechoslovakia.

And now… with a touch of incredible chutzpah… I present to you
dear reader… the shortest Tidbits ever written. I do this simply
because I have nothing more to say on this subject. Nothing of worth
in print seems available. Does no one care?

For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Current Tidbits… and you will get to view a pair of white metal Art
Deco fur clips worth about $275.00

And there ya have it.
Benjamin Mark

Hi Benjamin,

I always enjoy your tidbits!

My mother-in-law had a fur clip. She used it to keep her fur stole on
her shoulders while keeping her hands free.

There are also scarf clips to keep a scarf in the best position for
framing your face and emphasizing your “left bank” style.

I have heard both fur clips and scarf clips are collectors items in
some circles. However, there are many more of my friends who prefer
to collect tools.

Please keep entertaining us with your tidbits.

Mary A

Benjamin-- I have seen a couple of examples, didn’t get photos, darn
it. One was similar to the two part cape clips from the 20’s 30",
platinum lace work with bead set diamonds, locked together in the
middle. The other was an ornament that was meant for a fur cap. The
main thing I noticed was that they had really big teeth, all the
better to bite into the fur!

I think Europe is the likely origin, what with all the fur they wear
in those countries.

Jim Sweaney, CGA, FGA, GG
www.mardonjewelers.com