Hi
I might have missed this in the earlier posts, but you often see buttons and/or collar badges turned into "sweethearts". Some are most beautifully crafted and some are.....3/10 for manufacture but maybe with an "E" for effort!
Not uncommon to see buttons that have a space for a photo at the back (again someone with skill and time!).
I would guess that many jewellers had display of these in their windows and no doubt did some "research" on what regiments were "popular" or stationed locally. My own delight are the wonderfully hand-engraved (try getting that done at a reasonable price these days...) silver or gold items.
We are also talking about a time when people wanted to be linked to a unit/ cause, etc. and were proud to show it. Even wearing association badges was a lot more common back then. Some years ago in New Zealand, I met and had a brief chat with a gentleman wearing an "Old Coldstreamers" badge. He had served in Italy (Cassino) and spoke of how his unit had used the bodies of two dead New Zealanders as a point of reference to find their way back to the lines. That tale still moves me many years later.
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