1940s Sweetheart Jewelry (and a Chronically Vintage Coupon!)

Flashback Summer: 1940s WWII Sweetheart Jewelry from Chronically Vintage
1940s flowered sweetheart bracelet, available here
As the wife of an Air Force veteran and possibly having military aspirations for the future myself, World War II sweetheart jewelry has a very special place in my heart.

Imagine it.  You're a senior in high school when the war breaks out, and the boy you've been going steady with takes you to a quiet place one evening, holds your hand, and tells you that he's enlisted in the military.  He's going to war in just a couple weeks.  Then he pulls out a bracelet.  It's a special bracelet, a locket, and it has his picture in it.  He asks if you'll wait for him.

Back then, there were no computers.  There was no email, no Skype, no easy inter-continental communication.  There were phones on the front line, but they were not used to call your family.  They were carried on the back of a man that had to shout over the whistling of bombs to give and receive orders the men on the front needed to know.

You had mail, sometimes.  It came slow, it came sporadically, it came with huge chunks censored out.  You tried to be brave, upbeat, and positive in your letters to your loved ones, your boyfriend, fiancé, brother, father, uncle, friend.  You were brave for the boys on the front.

You couldn't hear from your man every day, but you prayed and thought of him all the time.  You knitted socks to send to him and his friends, and you opened up the locket he gave you a few times a day just to see his face again.  It was hard, but you stayed true and brave, holding things down at home until he could return.

This is why I love sweetheart jewelry.

It represents strong women- mothers, sisters, wives, and friends- who stood by the men at war.  They supported the war effort at home and equipped the boys at the front.  These women took the worry, anxiety, and fear they had and turned it into hopeful productivity.  They ran their homes and businesses alone until the men came back.  Sweetheart jewelry helped keep them going.  Sweetheart jewelry reminded each of these women that she was loved by a man far away that couldn't wait to get back to her, and that was worth the hardship of the moment.  {Tweet this}

Flashback Summer: 1940s WWII Sweetheart Jewelry from Chronically Vintage
1940s sweetheart locket bracelet, available here
If you, like me, love sweetheart jewelry, the bracelets highlighted above are available at the Chronically Vintage Etsy Shop now!  Jessica's shop is full of fantastic vintage pieces, and you're sure to find one you adore!

She has also made a coupon code just for you, awesome readers!  This coupon will give you 25% off any purchase until November 23rd: Flashback25

Do you have any sweetheart jewelry that has a great story and/or is near and dear to your heart?  Please share it with me; I'd love to hear about it!

8 comments

  1. I LOVE sweetheart jewelry of all kinds, particularly anything WWII era. I have a small collection including a bracelet similar to the ones above that I wear a lot. I have a large rhinestone V pin that I often wear for 40s reenactments and just picked up a little gold one. I have a couple posts on my blog with pictures from my collection as well as a little background info. A dear friend purchased a "Brother in the Service" pin for Cori to wear at our wedding. It was especially meaningful as his brother was deployed (for the 3rd time!) and was not able to make it to the wedding.
    FYI, Just tried the code to purchase something I've had my eye on and it didn't work. :( I contacted Jessica.
    -Emily

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    1. Hmmm, that's strange, I'll make sure I typed it correctly, too....

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    2. That's because I wrote it wrong! I'm fixing it now! The correct code is Flashback25, so sorry about that!

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  2. I love sweetheart jewelry too theres something so special about it

    retro rover

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  3. Beautiful post and look at one of my all-time favourite types of jewelry, sweet Emileigh. I'm honoured and very delighted that you featured Chronically Vintage's Etsy shop in this post. Thank you soooo much!!!

    ♥ Jessica

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  4. I used to be SUPER into sweetheart jewelry and did a post on it, sharing my collection. Recently I started parring it down, but still main a small collection. One of which I keep a picture of my grandfather in, in his uniform.

    And how nice of Jessica! She is such a doll!

    xoxo
    -Janey

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    1. That's so cool! I'm going to go try to track down that post now!

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  5. This is such an evocative piece, I enjoyed reading it.

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