info needed - early cincinnati reds pinback

[springpin]

Dave,

This is one of several pins I've come across over the years that has unclear meaning. It seems to be baseball related given the use of a team name and a verb we associate with sports. I am certain it is not a pin supporting the Communist party. Their pins used sober words, not colloquial expressions as "hustle." Years ago I came across two pins, one that said "Reds" and one that said "Blues." They are in my book. I speculated they might be booster pins for the Kansas City Blues and (I believe it was the) Wichita Reds. Years later I found the Reds pin with a ribbon. The ribbon said something like, "McGreevy's 40th anniversary sale" (this is from memory and I may be a little off). I did some research on the store name, and I recall it was located in Rochester, NY. The pins was from the 1940s, as the company was founded at the turn of the century. The back paper indicated the pin was made by Bastian Brothers of Rochester, NY. I have no idea what Reds and Blues might have meant to the store. Perhaps they sponsored two local teams, but maybe the two colors have nothing to do with sports at all.

So, is your pin a Cincinnati Reds pin? Maybe, as I can't disprove it. It appears to be of the same vintage as the two pins I mentioned. Perhaps it too refers to the store, and perhaps somewhere out there is a "Hustle for Blues" pin. I have come across several pins that have the word "Reds" in them, all from this same era, that may or may not be related to the Cincinnati Reds. However, after discovering the pin with the ribbon, I have become more reluctant to automatically assume they refer to the Cincinnati Reds.

Sorry I can't give you a definite answer to your question, but this is what my experience has taught me.

Paul