WW I VFW National Encampment Welcome Buddy Doughboy Cello Pinback Button

Description

This pinback shows the official emblem to the National Encampment of the VFW following WWI.  I don't know the exact
year of this encampment, but it was most likely in the early 1920s.  The pinback was distributed to the veterans at the encampment.
In a scholarly article written by Robert Sandels, the author states, "At the lower levels of Army organization the doughboy's group ties were like those of a surrogate family.  Divested of the associations of his previous life at the outset of his military career, the soldier turned in an almost instinctive desperation to 'buddies.' "  Sandels continues, " 'They were my buddies,' writes Sergeant York.  'That's a word that's only understood by soldiers who have lived under the same blankets, gathered around the same chow can, and looked at death together.' "
To this day the term has stuck. Each year the VFW hands out "Buddy Poppies" in memory of those doughboys who did not make it home.
The face of the cello pinback is in excellent condition, showing no damage or fading. It shows the profile of a doughboy in bright and vivid patriotic colors. The back is in very good condition for its age, showing the faint markings of a union stamp. Some of the pinbacks had a ribbon attached, but if this one did, it is no longer there.
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