Sweetheart badges have turned up on the blog in the past, but these have usually been made of metal, often enamelled. During the Second World War there was a craze for clear Perspex sweetheart badges. Originally these had been hand made by airmen for their girlfriends using pieces of scrap Perspex from aircraft canopies. Looking at surviving examples though it is quite clear that there was also commercial production of these badges as they appear in standard designs with similar metal decoration stuck to them so these badges are perhaps unlikely to be craft produced. Tonight we have an example of these commercial sweetheart badges with this broach that takes the form of a Perspex ‘V’ with a metal RAF Eagle applied to the front:
Other examples I have found online share the eagle design, but with different designs of Perspex backing. The ‘V’ design was very popular during the war, the letter standing for ‘victory’ and mirroring Churchill’s famous hand gesture.
The rear of the badge has a very simple catch made of a bent pin and a piece of wire as a hook:
This is very simple and suggests that this was probably quite a cheap piece of jewellery when it was originally produced. As ever this little badge came out of a rummage box for just a pound- these little objects are still out there for collectors to find at pocket money prices!
