Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Collect them all!

These little pins, or 'znacke' (ZNACH-kay), used to be so popular to collect. When I first came here in 1977, you could find people selling them or trading them on the street. I came across a fellow selling these Tito-era pins, along with all kinds of others, on Knez Mihailova, Belgrade's pedestrian street. I asked him if I could take a photo, and he said, "Okay, as long as you're not an inspector," which of course I was not. Many street vendors don't pay the tax to have a stand and often just conveniently pack up and disappear when they see or are told an inspector is coming.

14 comments:

Luis Gomez said...

These are great! I used to collect them as well.

Randy said...

Those are cool. That's all I need to do, start another collection.

Anonymous said...

I love this stuff too! My son and I often look in junk shops for pins.

Gaelyn said...

Nice collection of pins. I collect pins from the parks I visit and have them displayed on a curtain in the living room.

Leif Hagen said...

Fun to look at all those pins! I used to have a pin collection....

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

I'm with Randy -- I don't need another collection to obsess over. These look very interesting. If I had seen him on a street corner I would have had to have one or two. Nice shot!

Olivier said...

une superbe collection, a un moment c'etait la folie, on faisait la chasse aux pin's ;o))

Costea Andrea Mihai said...

yes..beautiful and big collection!!

Anca said...

I have such a pin - one with Tito's signature. A former Serbian colleague of mine bought this for me on Knez Mihailova. I believe he bought it from the same fellow you are mentioning :)

B SQUARED said...

Amazing what people will collect. I always wonder, why? A fascinating study.

Daryl said...

Oh my husband calls me The Inspector so I guess I wouldnt have been able to get that shot ... ;-D

Daryl said...

Oh my husband calls me The Inspector so I guess I wouldnt have been able to get that shot ... ;-D

Louis la Vache said...

But...but...but...
B SQUARED - You are world-renowned for your extensive collection of Yugos and are celebrated for having to only one still running in the entire world!

Tash said...

I still have one from my grade school 'pionirka' cap, as well as a collection of Russian pins that my aunt brought for me from Russia in the late '60s. I OWN the APOLLO one (left, bottom)!!! Thanks much, such a memory lane treat.

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