Back in the summer of 1996, Frances Carey bought a single, gold-toned equestrian Olympic pin at a kiosk outside her neighborhood grocery store.
It was a little memento of the games under way in her native Atlanta. The next morning, however, she found herself eagerly returning to that kiosk in Conyers to see what the pin seller carried back from Atlanta.
Gymnastic pins. Soccer pins. Swimming pins. Also FBI pins, Delta pins. Those Olympic pins — coins of colorful enamel — were the hot accessory of 1996.
And Carey was hooked, buying at least 20 pins every day.
"It became an absolute addiction," said Carey, now a retired special education teacher. "They are so bright and colorful, and every pin has a story behind it."
Many other Atlantans caught the collecting bug during the Olympic Games in Atlanta.
The fever continues today. A group of pin collecting enthusiasts still gather the third Wednesday of every month around 5 p.m. at the Varsity in downtown Atlanta (61 North Ave. N.W.) to buy, sell and trade pins. The local Olympic pin group meetings go back to 1994, two years before the Olympics were held here.
"For me, the pins were a great way to meet people," said Scott Reed, coordinator of the Atlanta Olympic pins collectors group. "If you are walking down the street, what are the chances you would ever just stop someone and start talking to them? Never. With the pins, they are an invitation to talk and meet people.
"I remember walking from Centennial Park to Turner Field and it was a long walk," Reed said, "but it wasn't a burden because I was talking and meeting people the whole time. I've met people from China and Russia and around the world through pins."
Reed, a banker who lives in Lilburn, said his pin selling-and-trading hobby will help pay for his trip to the London games.
Credit: Johnny Crawford
Credit: Johnny Crawford
Olympic pins go back to the 1896 games in Athens when they were small cardboard discs used to identify athletes, judges and officials. After World War II, companies started designing pins with the Olympic logo for just about every sponsor and product associated with the Olympics. In 1996, Atlantans collected and traded pins everywhere — on MARTA platforms, at parties, over dinner.
For Sam Davis of Athens, the enthusiasm in pin collecting started with the purchase of his first three pins during the 1996 games. A bystander offered him two pins for one of his. It seemed like a good deal, so he went for it, again and again, trading and collecting pins.
By the end of the Olympics, that original investment of just three pins grew into 150 pins. He also made $900 off selling those metal trinkets. So Davis, a professional counselor in Athens, started an online pin selling business. He now boasts 10,000 Olympic pins for sale, and he keeps about 300 in his personal collection.
Credit: Hyosub Shin
Credit: Hyosub Shin
Over the years, Carey continued to collect Olympic pins, regularly visiting antique stores and flea markets to add to her bundle. She eventually branched out into other Olympic games, including the Winter Olympics.
She now has around 1,500 Olympic pins. Her husband, Mike, a retired police officer, has hand-carved 15 poster-size shadow boxes to display the pins. The shadow boxes fill five rooms, including the couple's living room as well as three bedrooms.
"I ask for the boxes for every occasion — birthday, anniversary, Christmas," she said.
Still, there was one pin that remained out of reach. It was the Varsity's "What'll Ya Have" pin featuring the restaurant's famous onion rings. Olympic officials thought those rings looked too much like the Olympic rings, so the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games reportedly confiscated hundreds of the pins and essentially shut down the production of any more of the pins. So the pins became rare and for Atlantans, a particularly coveted one.
Carey found the Varsity pin online, but at $800 for the trinket, it was out of her price range.
And then, all of sudden, Carey's daughter, Julie, recently spotted the pin on eBay. They bid $225 and won it.
So what should Atlantans do with their personal pin collections from the 1996 Olympics?
"Hold onto them now," Davis said. "Because the price on collectibles is down, but just like your 401(k), it will go back up."
Credit: Brian O'Shea
Credit: Brian O'Shea
A surge of interest in pins is almost a given with the London games beginning Friday.
Davis will be ready to sell as many as 1,000 London Olympic pins online.
Reed will be in London, selling and trading pins, and making new friends.
And Carey will be home, glued to the TV and surrounded by the Olympic pins.
"I remember that feeling of being so proud and excited of the Olympics being here," Carey said. "Nothing as big had ever happened here."
Local Olympic pin information
For information about local Olympic pin meetings, shows and other events, go to www.olympinshow.org.
About the Author
