Some interesting Odd Fellows items I’ve collected.
It’s a dance card from the Mayflower Lodge (no. 31) Grand Social in 1887. I would have enjoyed this social event. It was held on a Friday. It was a week before Thanksgiving, which means everyone would have been in the holiday spirit, and it was held at the Oriental Hall which sounds very exotic and luxurious.
This appears to be a calling card but there is no name on the front. There could have been a name on the back but it was pasted into a scrapbook and then removed so if there was a name — it’s not there now.
I bought this button off Ebay. What inspired me to buy it was the shaking hands, the Welcome, the use of “Auld Acquaintance” and the fact that the lodge is identified.
I received this slide with some other Odd Fellows slides. I like it because it’s a 19th century way of proclaiming someone’s your BFF.
This is a one sided card with a clean back. The image is wonderful but I don’t know what it is. Maybe, it’s just a piece of ephemera?
I bought it because I really like the cowboy silhouette.
Here’s a photo I bought. If you click on the image (twice) and look at the books on the desk you can see that one of the books is titled, Odd Fellowship. Great fake background too.
I found this encampment ribbon online. I’m still not sure what an encampment is but the man’s image is very turn of the last century and it’s on a silk-like ribbon.
I bought this online. That winged hourglass always gets me. It’s a program for the 25th anniversary of the founding of FRIENDSHIP LODGE (no. 69) in Springvale, Maine. The event took place on Friday, March 12, 1897.
I took this picture at work. I put the pennant on a bookcart and then rolled the bookcart under a skylight. (The pennant wouldn’t fit on my scanner.) There is a Phoenixville, Pennsylvania — which is located 28 miles northwest of Philadelphia. I suspect that’s where this pennant comes from.
uh, I agree with the sentiments.
I have questions about this photograph. It was sold as an Odd Fellows photograph and that hat does look like one of the hats in my lodge. I’m not 100% sure but I’m 99% sure this guy is an Odd Fellow. The photograph is from Manchester, New Hampshire. Oh, and that is one very cool goatee. I wish I looked like him but a younger version of him.
It’s a calendar from 1923. All the months are there. It was never used.
A certificate of membership from 1856.
This complimentary banquet was held in Horticultural Hall in 1888. Inside it says they dined on Oysters: Raw on the Half Shell OR Escalloped AND there was a selection of cold meats including Ham, Roast Sirloin Beef and Tongue.
Tongue? I can’t imagine turning to my dinner companions and saying, “I wonder if they have anymore of that delicious tongue?”
The Odd Fellows had cemeteries around the world. I know they still exist in New Orleans, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
They look like a father and his sons to me.
I was drawn to this program’s image of an hourglass with wings which must symbolize “time flies.” This is a program for the public installation of officers at the North Star Lodge (no. 144) in Townsend, Mass. on January 3, 1900.
The 150th anniversary hat is from 1969. The Odd Fellows will celebrate their 200th anniversary in 2019. I like the Fez but it’s a little small for my big head. The crown and tiara were sold as Odd Fellows items but I’m not quite sure how they fit into a “ceremony.”
A handout marking the 5oth anniversary of the Odd Fellows in 1869.
Meni Lodge (no. 217). This photo has a turn of the century air. The man in the front row, second from the left, has a Great Gatsby demeanor about him. On the back he is identified as Nathaniel Bound.
I think it’s a calling card. This guy was really creative. I’m trying to think of a way to re-interpret it for myself. The way he spelled Los Angeles just adds to its charm.
It hangs in my living room.
Odd Fellow’s Talisman and Literary Journal. November 1885. This publication seems so old but for reference, Washington Square, by author Henry James, was published in 1880 and Dracula was published in 1897. In 1885, the Odd Fellows had been established, in America, for over 65 years.
This is the Odd Fellow’s Talisman and Literary Journal from September 1875. There’s a nice story inside called One Summer. It begins, “Silver Lake, as you all know, is a bewitching idyl of a place, much visited by wealthy ones in search of charm and change.”
I’m always buying Odd Fellows rings.
It’s a Christmas card from 1905. I think it was hand made. The inside certainly seems very specific.
This is the inside of the card.
A Social Promenade. This is something I would have liked to go to mainly because I don’t know what it is. At most social functions I’m usually standing off by myself — trying to decide if I should stay or just go home.
There’s a mirror on the other side. It’s only 2 1/4 inches across. After I bought it — I showed it to my co-worker and he said “diamonds have nothing to do with innocence.”
In Latin it says” VIA UNITA FORTIOR” which translates as “United strength is stronger.” That refers to the bundle of rods the man has in his hands. One rod alone can be broken but many rods bound together are more difficult to break. A modern day translation would be: there’s strength in numbers.
This is a San Francisco dandy. Unfortunately, there is no identification of who he was on the back of this card.He looks great (I especially like the tie, glasses, mustache and hat). If you look at his watch fob, below the white diamond, you can see “the three links.” He’s such a fancy pants. I wish I looked like him. Unfortunately, I usually have a sweaty, unkempt look.
It’s a dance card for a dance given by the Aquilla Lodge’s Daughters of Rebekah (the lady Odd Fellows). It was held on Thursday evening, April 16, 1903 at the Odd Fellows Hall. [The city and state are not listed inside the card.]
This is a magic lantern slide. I don’t really know what it’s purpose was but it does say on the slide: IOOF Man in his Strength. I just think it is SO cool. I held this up to the overhead light at work and then took a digital picture of it. It came out good.
This lodge is not identified on the photograph BUT the photographer is Charles A. Libby, Granite Block, Spokane so this group must have been a lodge in Spokane or the surrounding area. I find the dynamics of this photo interesting. With the exception of three individuals all the members look very “country-fied.” The three that don’t look that way are on the far right side of the photograph. The two standing up in the back row and the man sitting directly in front of them. He’s got a great face and he looks like Vladamir Lenin but his body language says he’s not quite as tight with the other members of the lodge as he should be. It could be just my impression. I love the room itself with the woodwork, the light fixtures and especially the three links.
It’s a match safe.
Pat. Jan. 12, 1904.
Any secret society needs a secret entrance
I wonder if they changed secret passwords on a regular basis?
United States Lodge Ball. I bought this last year and it’s hung in my office at work. This ball took place December 27, 1853! That was before the outbreak of the civil war.
Okay, this is a photo I bought off Esty. I purchased it because the photo’s in great shape and the location of the photograph is identified. In this case it’s Carbon Hills, Ohio. All the guys look super fantastic with their instruments and that major(ette) guy is very dramatic looking.
I almost did not buy this photograph because the border around the photo is in such bad shape — it’s torn, soiled with some type of oil and has water damage too. I had to buy it for three reasons: 1) the location is identified (OK), 2) it’s dated (4-26-13) and 3) because of the guy with the big white hat, white suit and the trombone near the center in the front. (If you click on the photo you can see him better.) He was the clincher. I want a hat like that! (I tried to crop all the damage out of the photo before uploading it.)
I have no idea where these guys are from. Some of them look sophisticated civilized and others look like they came out of log cabins in the mountains. I bought it because of the contrast between the men. That guy sitting down on the right — he looks like a mountain man. What did these men talk about?
The photographer’s location appears to be New Britain, CT.
The 3 links and the word BAND on his hat sold me on this.
This is not the cheeriest slide but visually it’s nicely composed.
It’s a bumper sticker. It hangs on the wall behind my computer at work. It reminds me to be courteous.
Another pennant I photographed at work under a skylight. Notice the goat. I have seen goats associated with the Odd Fellows on numerous occasions. Often on postcards. What’s up with the goat? I still haven’t figured out the significance.
This hangs on the wall in my office at work. The colors are rich and bright. It’s from 1916.
It’s a glass slide for a slide projector. I put a piece of white paper behind it so it would scan better.
I’m so glad I bought this. It combines two of my interests: The Odd Fellows and World’s Exhibitions.
I like the typeface on this program. Especially, the words “Public Installation” and that weird symbol beside it. The inside is mundane. It lists the officers on one side and the entertainment on the other but whoever designed the cover knew something about design.
I never understood how The Good Samaritan fit into the Odd Fellows but as of Wednesday, August 6, 2014, now I do. Written in pencil on the back of this item is: “From H.E. Stevens TO Oakfield I.O.O.F. No. 603, Aug 10th/37.
It’s a banquet program for a lodge in Camden, Arkansas in 1891.
I’ve never seen “peace, harmony and prosperity” together on an Odd Fellows item. I also like how there appears to be movement in the banner. The brochure is for the First Annual Reception and Ball of the Oconee Lodge (held at the Masonic Temple) in Ontario, NY on Thursday evening, March 4, 1904. How could they have these balls on a Thursday night? Didn’t people have to work in the morning?
This is a wonderful cover for an Odd Fellows building dedication in Merrimac, MA. In 1887!
This is the inside of the program. I like the program’s Eastlake style. The event also took place on a Wednesday night. Hmmm. Once again, that seems odd to me.
The back cover of the program.
On the side of this slide it says: “I.O.O.F. SUBORDINATE DEGREE Meeting of David and Jonathan.” I had to do some research on Jonathan and David after buying this slide. I found out that David is the David from David and Goliath.
I found this IOOF rejection online and bought it. I wonder why the poor guy was rejected.
I bought this photo because of the young guy in the front row on the right. This picture is from 1962 and while that guy may be an Odd Fellow I also think he’s a beatnik. I like him. He’s great. I can see him sitting in a coffee shop, back in 1962, reading poetry and smoking a cigarette. On the back it says the photographer was Raup and Raup was based in Hagerstown, Maryland.
This is for a Ball. The cover is very tasteful.
This is the inside. I like the hand down at the bottom that points to a sentence that says, “Every other number a square dance.”
My book came out on December 16, 2013. It’s called The Odd Fellows.
