So, when I unpacked this I thought “Oh, a charm bracelet. Those started to become fashionable in the mid-century.” Well, when I looked at it closely it’s no regular charm bracelet. It tells the story of the New Deal and wartime. Those coins are from various European countries, and the United States. Germany, France, Italy and England are represented. Leaving out several players, these are the principal Enemy and western Allies of World Wars 1&2. The little male figures (only men, of course) represent people from different walks of life and levels of society. The Native American, the professor, the businessman, the teamster, the beggar, the Laborer and the Elite. This may represent the New Deal’s aim of leveling the economic playing field across all the population. A great idea. Good luck with that.

Fabulous clue, however. Only a certain type of woman at a certain time and from a certain type of place would wear such a bracelet. Or, perhaps, it was an individual creation worn as an unobtrusive bauble but carrying a coded message . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MORGANA MARTIN, THE MAGICVINTAGESPY

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