Things I Found: Walt Disney World 15 Years Pin

I have decided to start a new occasional series called “Things I Found.” While I was looking for something a couple of weeks ago, I found all sorts of other interesting things, although I never did find the one thing that I was looking for. But I thought that some of the things that I do find around our house sometimes might be interesting to share, either because of the items themselves or the stories that go along with them.

Up first is this interesting item from way back when:

This pin is from Walt Disney World’s 15th Anniversary Celebration, which started in 1986 and ran through 1987. That would mean that I bought this in the summer of 1987. I got it because I liked the logo that featured abstract versions of Cinderella Castle and Spaceship Earth. And looking back now, it is a reminder of the good old days when the only two parks at Walt Disney World were the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT Center.

This was way before the time when pin trading at Disney became a popular thing, so they just sold the occasional pin here and there and not multiple pins for every occasion and character as they do now. I have always liked pins, even though I never did get into the pin trading craze. If I buy a pin, it is because I like it and want to keep it, not because I want to trade it away. But I’m sure that if I did offer this one for trade, it would go very, very quickly.

Unfortunately, the yellow color that shows up here is the actual color of the pin, as it has yellowed greatly with age. All of that yellow area did look white back when it was new. I would suspect that the yellow is actually the clear coating that they used to put on the top of the pins, which they don’t seem to do today, and I can see why. But still, even with the changing of the colors, I still like this pin, and it brings back some fond memories of those old days.

And yes, I did keep it on the original card. I’m sure I took it off of the card and wore it on my suit coat lapel for a while, but I felt that keeping it on the card was an easy way to keep up with it, since small pins like that seem to get lost pretty easily in drawers and such. And keeping it on the card makes the next question pretty easy to answer.

How much did a pin like this cost?

Yes, just $3.00. Plus tax, of course. And there was that cool Mickey Mouse head on the price tag, too. I would imagine that a similar pin these days would cost around three times that much. You will also notice the different pin back that was used back then. A little more difficult to get on and off maybe, but once on, it probably wouldn’t fall off as easily as today’s pins seem to do.

Check back in the future for more Things I Found posts. Because there is just no telling what I might find tucked away in our house somewhere.