Nostalgia Day 11: Charm Bracelets

This is a re-visit to a post I did in the first couple months of my blog that pertains to my 31 Days of Nostalgia topic.


What high school girl in the 1950's - 1970's didn't want a charm bracelet? I know I did, and so did my friends. It was on my Christmas list in the early 1970's, and although it was to be a surprise, my little sister, (eight years my junior), announced that she knew what I was getting for Christmas. She blurted out proudly, that "Craig (our brother) got part, I got part and Gram the main part". From that hint, I knew that a charm bracelet was indeed going to be under the tree for me.

Although the charm bracelet dates back over 10,000 years ago, and was popularized during Queen Victoria's reign, it was the Bobby Soxer Era beginning in the 1950's when the charm bracelet became a "must have" accessory for girls. The bracelet's charms recorded major rites of passage, 16th birthdays, graduations, travel, weddings, etc. Charm bracelets began to lose favor during the disco era when bare gold chains without baubles became the new status symbol. Charm bracelets reappeared in the mid 1980's. During my daughters' childhoods, the Italian charm bracelets became very popular.

Here are a couple examples of vintage silver charm bracelets:

Photo Source - Ruby Lane

Photo source - Etsy, Green Land Turtle

And this is my charm bracelet. It's still in great condition.

A football. I was a loyal Vikings follower.

A graduation cap.

A record player.

A telephone. What girl didn't like listening to 45's and talking on the telephone?

The year I graduated.

My graduation photo.

I hope you enjoyed a look back at charm bracelets!