"We All Have Our Hobbies" Token



"We All Have Our Hobbies" Token


Russell Rulau in his "Standard Catalog of United States Tokens" list this
piece under the Storecards of George H. Lovett. Although not a
storecard I am guessing he did not know where else to place it  It is
such a quirky piece, possibly a tribute to his customers who were coin
and medal collectors. Of course also something he could sell them!
Originally I had it listed with the storecards but think it deserves its own page.

NY 491A, white metal, 27.3mm


NY 491B, brass, 28mm


NY 491C, copper, 28mm


S.C.U.S.T. list only white metal, brass, and copper versions of this token.
The "100 Greatest American Medals and Tokens"  by Bowers and Jaeger also list
these three metals with the populations as follows: white metal - 100 to 200 known,
brass 75 to 125 known, copper - 125 to 250 known.


Luther B. Tuthill advertisement in The Numismatist, Vol. VII, No. 1, January  (1894)

The obverse design and motto is not an original design by George H. The witch
on a broomstick with similar mottos were found on seal fobs in
England at least by the early 1800's. These would have been worn on
a watch fob, or possibly a necklace in the case of a woman, and used
to stamp wax to seal a letter. The piece below came from an old
convent in Glastonbury U.K. The motto reads "ALL HAVE THEIR HOBBIES",
the body of the piece, an elephant standing on a rock, is gold plated
sterling silver.




This envelope has been sealed with black wax with the impression of a
slightly different design. The date of 1824 indicates this was already
in use before George H's use of this design.



The following two versions are not mentioned in either S.C.U.S.T. or
Bowers and Jaeger but were known as early as 1893 when they
were listed in a Bangs, Merwin & Co. sale. As of September 2018
I knew of 4 German silver and 2 silver examples. My guess would
be there are 10 or less in existence.

Silver, 27.3mm


German silver (68.85% copper, 21.75% zinc, 9.58% nickle), 27.3mm


So how did the expression "We all have our hobbies" come to be associated
with the image of the witch on a broom stick? "To ride one's hobby-horse"
meant to follow a favorite pastime and eventually led to our modern
usage of the word hobby. And the image of the witch on her broom stick
is very much like a child riding their stick or hobby horse - so she is
pursuing her 'hobby'.

From Mason’s Monthly Illustrated Coin Collector’s Magazineand Price Current, Vol. 1, No. 1, June (1884) : 13.  

A bit more interesting, and salacious, is how the riding of a broom stick became 
associated with witches. (If you have young numismatist at home you may
want to edit this part).  As early as the 14th and 15th centuries there
were accounts of witches brews being used to achieve altered states 
by those believed to be witches. These were hallucinogenic plant extracts,
such as deadly nightshade and mandrake, that were used to make ointments
and salves. Eating or drinking these compounds were known to cause
severe intestinal discomfort but they could be absorbed through the 
sweat glands of the armpit or a particular mucous membrane found in 
women (need I say more?). And a staff, or broom handle, could be 
a method of applying these ointments. A fifteenth century account reads "But the
vulgar believe, and the witches confess, that on certain days and 
nights they anoint a staff and ride it to the appointed place or anoint 
themselves under the arm or other hairy places". And from an
account of a 1600 witch trial "The supposed witch was asked if she
had been at a witch dance, and replied 'Yes, for she was there initiated as a witch'
Who had taken her to it! 'The old shepard's wife had fetched her and they
had gone with a broom'. Did she mean they had flown through the air
on a broom? 'Certainly not; they had walked to Etterle, and the placed
themselves across the broom, and so come onto the dancing green' So they 
had not come through the air? 'Certainly not, that required an ointment
which ought to be only rarely used' ".


We All Have Our Hobbies / Dedicated To Mules
 F.C Key of Philadelphia seems to have obtained both dies and muled them
with several of his dies. Some are listed in the Standard Catalog of U.S.
Tokens, many are not. The ones listed below are those I currently
am aware of.


We All Have Our Hobbies / Key Storecard mules

Pa-Ph 182, brass, 28mm
IMAGE NEEDED
Pa-Ph 182A, copper, 28mm

 Pa-Ph 182B, white metal, 28mm
(image courtesy of Joe Levine)


Dedicated To /  Key Storecard mules

Pa-Ph 184, brass, 28mm
IMAGE NEEDED
Pa-Ph 184A, copper, 28mm
 (on line image)

Pa-Ph 184B, white metal, 27.9mm


We All Have Our Hobbies / Edwin Forrest mules

NY 495N, white metal, 28mm


Dedicated To / Edwin Forrest mules

White metal, 28mm
(on line image)


We All Have Our Hobbies / Daniel Webster mules

NY 495K, brass, 27.9mm

Type of NY 495K, white metal, 28mm
IMAGE NEEDED 
 
Dedicated To / Daniel Webster mules
 
NY 495J, brass, 28mm
IMAGE NEEDED

type of 495J, white metal, 28mm


 
We All Have Our Hobbies / Patriae Pater mules
 
GW-237, Baker 635, copper, 28mm
IMAGE NEEDED
 
GW-237, Baker 635a, brass, 28mm
 (on line image)

GW-237, Baker 635B, white metal, 28mm
(image courtesy of Heritage)

 
Dedicated To / Patriae Pater mules

GW-238, Baker 634, silver, 27.9mm

GW-238, Baker 634A, white metal, 27.9mm

GW-238, Baker 634B, copper, 28mm
(on line image)

GW-238, Baker unlisted, brass, 28mm
IMAGE NEEDED


We All Have Our Hobbies / Mobile Jockey Club mules

Ala 12, copper, 28mm
IMAGE NEEDED

Ala 13, brass, 28mm
IMAGE NEEDED


Ala 14, white metal, 28mm
(on line image)

Ala 15, silver, 28mm
IMAGE NEEDED
Ala 16, copper nickel, 28mm
IMAGE NEEDED