Expansion Bracelets
You’ve probably seen these bracelets for sale at flea markets and on vintage jewelry sites. They are generally made of gold-tone metal and often have a central plaque or medallion that can be engraved.
The links are connected so that the bracelet expands to grip any size wrist. (The same principle exists today in some watch bands.)
Were expansion bracelets a fad, a trend, or a classic?
Since they are not around today, we can be pretty sure they are not classics. But there are an awful lot of these things on the secondary market…. So were they a fad or a trend?
Before we decide, let’s get some definitions out of the way. What exactly is a fad, anyway? Surprisingly, the critical factor isn’t anything intrinsic to the way the item looks – it’s how long it lasts in the marketplace.
Costume jewelry is generally considered to be a part of the fashion industry. Bean-counters use the same term for those jeans with the ripped knees as they do for that sparkly knuckle ring you bought on ebay: FAD.
The sales exec is vitally interested in one thing: “How many people will buy my product this month? How many people will buy my product next month? How many people will buy my product the month after that?” Or put another way, “Will my product be a flop? A fad? A trend? Or (cross my fingers) a classic?”
It’s the longevity of the product in the marketplace that defines whether a fashion is a fad, not the fact that it is poorly made, or it makes you look like a blimp.
A fad doesn’t last long.
A trend (also called a “fashion”) lasts longer and reaches more people.
But the Holy Grail is the true classic or “modern classic” – an item that reaches lots of people and year after year, is a perennial seller.
Now that we have the definitions out of the way, let’s move on the fun part: Was it/Is it a fad, trend, or a classic?
To find out, I looked at a sampling of mail-order catalogs from 1902 to 1986.
My guess was that these bracelets were a fairly short-term trend, probably starting in the 1930s and ending in the early 1940s.
Boy was I wrong. The venerable expansion bracelet first showed up in my sample in 1912 — in Sears Catalog Number 124 — and lasted until 1962. I couldn’t find it in my catalogs in the 1930s, but I bet it was still around. (Mail order catalogs during the Great Depression didn’t devote many pages to fripperies like jewelry.)
Here is a picture of the expansion bracelet from the 1962 Sears Christmas Catalog. Note it was sold with a matching locket, and was marketed for teens. (I’ve seen this marketing behavior before — shortly before a trend dies its natural death, marketers try to pitch it to kids or teens.)
Stay tuned for more posts in the series “Fad, Trend, or Classic?” Coming up: Pearls, Cameos, Charm Bracelets, and more.
Gemboree Vintage 