Charm History – Bates & Kline, Inc.
The old Bates & Klinke Company produced some of my favorite collectible travel charms. Bates & Klinke, Inc. was founded in 1919 in Attleboro Massachusetts by Harold Bates & Oscar Klinke. Attleboro was a major center for jewelry production in the early 20th century. Bates & Klinke are noted for making souvenir silver charms from tourist travel destinations, along with souvenir spoons, brass souvenir plates, medals, keychains, & military insignia. Most of the travel charms were produced in the 1940s. Today the company does business as B&J Manufacturing Corporation. The older Bates & Klinke charms from travel destinations are in high demand with collectors today. There are 4 shapes that are the most sought after: an Art Deco triangular shape, a round disc, a scalloped disc, and a ship's wheel disc.
I am always on the lookout for these high quality vintage charms and I know of several collectors that have made theme bracelets entirely of BK travel charms representing U.S. states, tourist destinations, and national parks. I recommend to anyone that is interested in charm collecting to keep your eyes peeled for these as they are going up in value all the time. It's a great way to commemorate travel and fun to find these old treasures.
Category: All About Old Jewelry
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Wanda Fitzgerald is a Florida native and an vintage charm collector who loves to share her adventures in an e-commerce jewelry business with anyone who is interested.Subscribe
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There are other types of Bates and Klinke charms – a deco style rectangular shape, and a shield shape. They also made figural charms. The rarest of all may be their enameled charms; I have only seen three. One of lemons, one of oranges, and a shield of a skier. I have six bracelets filled only with B&Ks!
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Hi, I have some archerie charms by bates & klinke-attleboro. Do you have any info on these type of medals. They are of gold color and different shapes. Thank you.
I’m sorry I’m not familiar with these charms and don’t have any. I’m curious now though and am going to do some more research. If I locate any I’ll be in touch.
I have a copper charm, it is round and has The Alamo San Antonio Texas on it, I can not find any info on it, you have any ideas? Bates and Klinke INC.
If you send me a photo I’ll try to identify it. My email address is on the contact page in this blog.