04/01/2026
Welcome to with Registrar/Collections Manager, Avery Frank.
Today’s Treasure:
Handmade Beanie, c.1945
Donated by Randy Shepard
For today’s object I wanted to highlight an object that is just downright odd. This is what appears to be a red felt beanie with metal coin holders sewn around the crown in an even pattern that are holding pennies dated from 1940 to 1949. The beanie has an uneven white zigzag trim and from combining that with the stitching around the coins I am fairly confident in saying this is a handmade beanie. It seems to have some kind of sentimental meaning to it but I can’t tell what it's supposed to be. Is it commemorating a certain event, a homemade gift or perhaps an inside joke or reference whose significance is only known to a select few. I first thought that it was an item intended for a child but it fits more comfortably on an adult sized mannequin head, which doesn’t rule out that it was intended for a child it just doesn’t make it the only possibility. The dates of the pennies could also be a clue to its purpose, perhaps the dates on the coins could be dates of importance to whoever it was made for. The beanie seems to be unique too, I have not come across anything remotely similar in researching the object, it truly is a novelty piece of craft.
This is part of the fun of working with museum collections though, these items that come in as a part of an old family heirloom collection that even the donor doesn’t know what the story of the object is. Sometimes an object’s history and importance is only known by one or two people and if they don’t pass it on it’s meaning can be lost to time.
