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Probably button?
- Thread starter John Dryja
- Start date
fwcrawford
Well-known member
Looks like a “GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC” (GAR) button to me… nice find!!!
markinswpa
Well-known member
Dead nutz fw. I dug one a few years back and was thrilled when it was ID. Now my bucketlister in that category is a G.A.R. medal. I've seen several of those posted.
markinswpa
Well-known member
Yes sir, fwcrawford nailed it. Great save. A Grand Army of the Republic button. Seems the G.A.R. was started in 1866 for the Union war vets and existed till 1954 when the last veteran died. There is also a womens and sons chapters. I would hit that site again. Good luck. Mark
markinswpa
Well-known member
So a little history here. Perhaps my biggest hero, second only to Theodore Roosevelt was George Westinghouse. He founded and built Westinghouse Airbrake In Wilmerding, Pa. For those too young, the invention of the airbrake made train travel significantly safer. Before it was about as safe as flying on a terrorist owned airline. Anyhow in 1894 the G.A.R. was scheduled to have its reunion here in Pittsburgh. Old George said I have a building at my factory that hasn't been outfitted yet and donated the site for the reunion. He fitted it with spiral staircases, chandeliers, the finest of everything. Think first class dining on the Titanic. He paid for everything. Turns out he was a civil war vet and a member of the G.A.R. He was the first to build his employees housing with indoor plumbing and electricity. Gave them workers insurance in the event the worker was disabled or killed the family wouldn't be out in the street. Also believed in a safe work environment and did his best to make it happen. While the other robber barons like Carnegie, Mellon Scaife, Frick and the like were exploiting the workers he understood the value of giving his employees a job with good wages and working conditions. He partnered with Tesla which brought about AC current and won the contract over Edison to power up the Chicago World's Fair.
Anybody that comes to Pittsburgh, I recommend a visit to Schenley Park. There is a memorial there in his honor. It was built and paid for by his employees. He was so revered that when he died in 1914 they shipped him home to Schenectady, his pallbearers paid their own way .
Footnote. You can detect in Schenley , me and at least a hundred others have pounded the place. But there is always a chance to find something old as the park dates back to the 1890s
407floyd
Well-known member
Just imagine
If the South had won the Civil War (the way they won this last election), there would have been no GAR. A statue of Grant would have been unthinkable. That wouldnt have been tolerated by the the survivors in the North, much less the CSA. Only Southern Generals allowed on courthouse squares and no looking back at what could have been. If Mr. Westinghouse wasn’t imprisoned or worse after the war, and somehow managed to start his company, he would not have been able to compete with a slaveholder industry, so he would’ve either failed as a businessman or moved to a more developed country. Could he have manufactured generators and turbines using slaves? Yes. Would he have? I don’t think so. Some other country would have been the leader of the free world using his technology, skill, and ethics. The CSA would’ve had no need for a man like him. The country would have ended up with a population: 75% slaves, 20% poor whites, 5% rich fat white men. That’s pretty close to the population ratio of the South in the 1850s. No need for all those great patented inventions you could buy out of the Sears Catalogue to make farming more competitive. Maybe in Europe. Cars and trucks would have been made in Europe for rich slaveowners and Europeans.They would not have joined the fighting in WWI because they were not equipped and didn’t care. Germany would have won because the USA wasn’t there to help. Then, after taking over most of Europe, Germany would have come for the CSA. The dominoes keep falling.
In other words, I’m really glad you were able to find that button.
If the South had won the Civil War (the way they won this last election), there would have been no GAR. A statue of Grant would have been unthinkable. That wouldnt have been tolerated by the the survivors in the North, much less the CSA. Only Southern Generals allowed on courthouse squares and no looking back at what could have been. If Mr. Westinghouse wasn’t imprisoned or worse after the war, and somehow managed to start his company, he would not have been able to compete with a slaveholder industry, so he would’ve either failed as a businessman or moved to a more developed country. Could he have manufactured generators and turbines using slaves? Yes. Would he have? I don’t think so. Some other country would have been the leader of the free world using his technology, skill, and ethics. The CSA would’ve had no need for a man like him. The country would have ended up with a population: 75% slaves, 20% poor whites, 5% rich fat white men. That’s pretty close to the population ratio of the South in the 1850s. No need for all those great patented inventions you could buy out of the Sears Catalogue to make farming more competitive. Maybe in Europe. Cars and trucks would have been made in Europe for rich slaveowners and Europeans.They would not have joined the fighting in WWI because they were not equipped and didn’t care. Germany would have won because the USA wasn’t there to help. Then, after taking over most of Europe, Germany would have come for the CSA. The dominoes keep falling.
In other words, I’m really glad you were able to find that button.