Musings on Medals and Fun Facts

As we go through these boxes of medals (check out those currently available for sale here!) I’ve learned something.

People will really commemorate anything.

For example, did you know there’s an Israeli medal to commemorate Tu B’Shevat, or the holiday when all trees celebrate their birthdays? You read that right! It’s a fun holiday that may have its roots in a spring agriculture festival,  Levitican laws ruling when fruit can be harvested for whom (if you can’t harvest until the tree is five years old…does that mean you have to know when you planted every tree in your orchard? Nope! All trees turn a year older on Tu B’Shevat!) or both. Now it is celebrated much like Earth Day in America.

Or, did you know that the French made a medal to commemorate Belgian painter of the poor Baron Eugene Laermans? They thought, rightly, that he wasn’t appreciated enough, even though his work had nothing to do with the French people. Perhaps, after their revolution, they just liked a painter who seemed to be looking out for the little guy?

Then there’s this medal that no one in the office can figure out, since no one speaks Latin. Or this one commemorating…an incinerator? Pretty dramatic medal for an incinerator! Or this German medal celebrating 75 years of the Jewish National Fund, which owns 13% of the land in Israel (according to Wikipedia).

In short, it turns out there’s a medal for everything. We’ve said it before but we’ll say it again: branching out into medals is a great way to diversify your stock, your personal collection, and to learn something new about the world!