BOAC Cuff Links

[albatross]

Stumbled across these at a local thrift shop today.
Looked like they needed a home.
Would these have been a part of crew uniforms or an item sold or gifted to passengers?
Just curious.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1135x1570/img_7595_0654040aace2e2c8716e5fb317aa469fd53f2a44.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1394x1342/img_7593_4f4214c7ba0d558be25ce1442613bbaf99997376.jpeg

[Planemike]

What a great find.....!! Have to keep looking in my charity shops...!!!

[sycamore]

BOAC probably bought them there as well.....

[albatross]

I wonder what era they date from.
Couldn’t find a date.
Even the case is of high quality.
I don’t think they have ever been worn.
Lots of retired aircrew live in my little town. Perhaps a gift to someone now past.

Imagine something actually made anywhere but Asia!

I will have to find someone who will appreciate them.

[PG Aviation]

Albatross,

Wow what a great find.
Is this the first time you've found something like this?

Like 'Planemike', I'm going to have to keep looking for real treasure like these!

[Jhieminga]

That is a lovely pair of cufflinks! Great find!

As for the date... it would have been between 1950 and 1974 and it will not be easy to narrow it down I'm afraid. It might help to go through some old BOAC in-flight brochures to see if they were sold on board at any point in time. They sold lady's scarves with the BOAC speedbird as well.

[renfrew]

That looks like the later Speedbird so nearer 1970.
I have a pair with 3 Speedbirds on each.They were probably givaways to favoured customers.

[Jhieminga]

There was another set like yours here: https://www.shpock.com/en-gb/i/XPp968B8mD6KHpJF/vintage-boac-cufflinks
And I found these, which are packed in a similar box but feature a different design: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/genuine-boac-1960s-cufflinks-1533893861
Either giveaways or sold to customers, could be both. Not that many about.... but that's based on a five minute Google search so I could be wrong.

[PG Aviation]

That looks like the later Speedbird so nearer 1970.

Were there multiple iterations of the original Speedbird?

I do know that eventually BA created/introduced the Speedwing and Speedmarque (current logo).

[Jhieminga]

I found this online a long time ago. The original instructions from 1971 to use the logo. I would have to go back to see if there were any variations in earlier years, but I do know that there was a period where it was not used as the main BOAC logo. If you go back to the 1950s and early 1960s, the Speedbird was included in the livery, but it was not as visible as it would be on later variations. I think that the publications and promotional material from those days were also not as 'plastered' with the logo as they were in the early 70s. It was less prominent.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/2000x1418/speedbird_img_0784_b4bc1ad6eadb6e8db8df7d2747b59d4a196eeea8. jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/2000x1418/speedbird_img_0785_917e47c8bf30a6adac9f9f4d95f5ae7974b0ad0f. jpg

[renfrew]

Wikipedia has some details.
It was used in Imperial Airways advertising from the early 30's and appeared on their aircraft around 1938.
The original Speedird before the above examples was simpler and I think more elegant.

https://www.britairliners.org/airliners-article?title=history-of-boac&id=24

[Bergerie1]

The Speedbird was the corporate logo of Imperial Airways and was continued by BOAC when the corporation was founded in 1939. It is a very great pity that British Airways decided to dispense with such an iconic symbol and replace it with a limp piece of coloured ribbon. What a come-down!!

[PG Aviation]

The Speedbird was the corporate logo of Imperial Airways and was continued by BOAC when the corporation was founded in 1939. It is a very great pity that British Airways decided to dispense with such an iconic symbol and replace it with a limp piece of coloured ribbon. What a come-down!!

I completely agree with what you say, but BA still have that large corporate image even with their current 'speedmarque' ribbon design. I did quite like the landor-era speedwing though!

[Jhieminga]

I picked up a great BOAC 'Speedbird Gift Shop' brochure at The Aviation Bookshop (https://www.aviation-bookshop.com/) last week, and it shows some cufflinks that match the ones I found in my post #8 above:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/625x1000/souvenirs_1_91dfc107829496bdfc43d5cd79347f92504986bd.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/553x1000/souvenirs_2_d8ea0f9fef26e971c146eae0bf618ebead486853.jpg
As the box for that set matches the box for the ones in post #1, I reckon they were also available through the 'Speedbird Gift Shop' at the time.