GRAIL What is Your Oddball Grail?
We all have them. Pins that aren't part of our main collection, but that somehow mean more to us than anything else.
Alright everyone, hop aboard your time machine (it's rotating backwards for your descent to earth) for a epic (re: why is this post so damn long?!) post that is equal parts lore, desperation, and downright frustration around a grail that keeps me up at night. And this is long. And I am not sorry. Haha.
The year is 1981. I don't exist yet. But my mom does, and she is working for Bell Labs in New Jersey. Her work experience up until that point involved programing and coding kiosk computer systems, not the least of which were many of the Bank of New York ATM kiosks installed in New York City in the late 70s. At Bell Labs, she was a networking specialist. Her work experience and value in the industry afforded her the opportunity to be hand picked to join the Bell Systems team that would be responsible for laying networking around Spaceship Earth at EPCOT, and specifically, to install all of the World Key informational kiosks around the park. Growing up in New York in a "Disney Family" that obsessively visited the World's Fair, you can imagine how honored and excited my mother (and my grandmother) was for this opportunity to be a part of something so big and so important.
She was given a handful of special items from EPCOT's opening, but mostly from Bell Systems, as she was never "officially" a Disney Cast Member. Moreover, she reminisces about how chaotic and BUSY it was getting everything in working order, and how she hardly remembers the day due to running around like a crazy woman and sweating more than she ever had in her life. Any celebrating or "swag" that would have been given out she would have long missed due to the crazy hours she spent installing, patching and testing the network in and around Communicore.
One of the most unexpected and emotional moments in my life came last year when we attended the D23 EPCOT 30th Anniversary Celebration. We were treated to vintage videos, photographs and interviews from the park opening, and as we were perusing some of the setup, I was stunned to find unmistakable photos of my mom and her team with the World Key kiosks. To know that my mother had a direct hand in opening such a special and revolutionary type of theme park made me prouder than I'd ever felt in my whole life.
Okay, enough of that - where am I going with this?
A few months ago as I was perusing PinPics, this caught my eye:
Pin 98008: Spaceship Earth Epcot Center Bell System Cast Member Sponsor Pin
Honestly, the pin itself is nothing special but what it means to me is another story entirely. This was the pin Cast Members wore on their costumes when Bell Systems was the sponsor of Spaceship Earth. Due to some questionable business practices (*ahem*) Bell Systems ended up breaking up, allowing for AT&T to take over as sponsor for the "New Global Neighborhood" of Spaceship Earth and Siemens after that. Immediately upon finding this pin, I took to eBay and was able to grab one of the vintage AT&T logo costume pins, but no matter how many saved searches I conduct or alerts I receive, I can never, ever find this pin.
How do people find these? Someone suggested reaching out to central Florida's consignment, vintage and tag shops. But is there another way? We are a big community of pin people, and I know that people stumble upon vintage Disneyland pins, security badges, name tags and other oddities not necessarily considered "trading" pins. I know this is a shot in the dark, but I am at my wits end and I know there has to be a better way to look for this...
I have to tell you, I would do nearly anything to get this pin for my mom. I find it all too fitting that EPCOT's big identity is around "legacy" and the message that we are leaving behind for generations to come. I consider this park, especially Spaceship Earth, to be a big part of my family's legacy, because it's something that I gush about and I am so proud of my mom's involvement in.
Thanks for reading, and hopefully sharing! Isn't it funny the value we each put on such strange and random pins?
Alright everyone, hop aboard your time machine (it's rotating backwards for your descent to earth) for a epic (re: why is this post so damn long?!) post that is equal parts lore, desperation, and downright frustration around a grail that keeps me up at night. And this is long. And I am not sorry. Haha.
The year is 1981. I don't exist yet. But my mom does, and she is working for Bell Labs in New Jersey. Her work experience up until that point involved programing and coding kiosk computer systems, not the least of which were many of the Bank of New York ATM kiosks installed in New York City in the late 70s. At Bell Labs, she was a networking specialist. Her work experience and value in the industry afforded her the opportunity to be hand picked to join the Bell Systems team that would be responsible for laying networking around Spaceship Earth at EPCOT, and specifically, to install all of the World Key informational kiosks around the park. Growing up in New York in a "Disney Family" that obsessively visited the World's Fair, you can imagine how honored and excited my mother (and my grandmother) was for this opportunity to be a part of something so big and so important.
She was given a handful of special items from EPCOT's opening, but mostly from Bell Systems, as she was never "officially" a Disney Cast Member. Moreover, she reminisces about how chaotic and BUSY it was getting everything in working order, and how she hardly remembers the day due to running around like a crazy woman and sweating more than she ever had in her life. Any celebrating or "swag" that would have been given out she would have long missed due to the crazy hours she spent installing, patching and testing the network in and around Communicore.
One of the most unexpected and emotional moments in my life came last year when we attended the D23 EPCOT 30th Anniversary Celebration. We were treated to vintage videos, photographs and interviews from the park opening, and as we were perusing some of the setup, I was stunned to find unmistakable photos of my mom and her team with the World Key kiosks. To know that my mother had a direct hand in opening such a special and revolutionary type of theme park made me prouder than I'd ever felt in my whole life.
Okay, enough of that - where am I going with this?
A few months ago as I was perusing PinPics, this caught my eye:
Pin 98008: Spaceship Earth Epcot Center Bell System Cast Member Sponsor Pin
Honestly, the pin itself is nothing special but what it means to me is another story entirely. This was the pin Cast Members wore on their costumes when Bell Systems was the sponsor of Spaceship Earth. Due to some questionable business practices (*ahem*) Bell Systems ended up breaking up, allowing for AT&T to take over as sponsor for the "New Global Neighborhood" of Spaceship Earth and Siemens after that. Immediately upon finding this pin, I took to eBay and was able to grab one of the vintage AT&T logo costume pins, but no matter how many saved searches I conduct or alerts I receive, I can never, ever find this pin.
How do people find these? Someone suggested reaching out to central Florida's consignment, vintage and tag shops. But is there another way? We are a big community of pin people, and I know that people stumble upon vintage Disneyland pins, security badges, name tags and other oddities not necessarily considered "trading" pins. I know this is a shot in the dark, but I am at my wits end and I know there has to be a better way to look for this...
I have to tell you, I would do nearly anything to get this pin for my mom. I find it all too fitting that EPCOT's big identity is around "legacy" and the message that we are leaving behind for generations to come. I consider this park, especially Spaceship Earth, to be a big part of my family's legacy, because it's something that I gush about and I am so proud of my mom's involvement in.
Thanks for reading, and hopefully sharing! Isn't it funny the value we each put on such strange and random pins?
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