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After collecting Labor Memorabilia for over thirty-five years, I have decided to sell-off my collection of over 4800 Labor Union & Cause items. Many of these items have never appeared on ebay or for that matter, on any other venues selling historical pieces. Some of the pieces go back to the year of 1834 and others are from the Knights of Labor, Western Federation of Labor, IWW and other labor organizations of the late 19th century. T are Parade Badges, Pins, Convention Badges, Ribbons, Caps & Hats, 3-D items, Plates, Paper, Books, Signs & Posters of practically every union which ever existed including noted Labor leaders of the century. Many of the items are in Nice, Great, Excellent, Near-Mint, Mint and Minty-Mint Condition and also, many are Rare, Very Rare and Extremely Rare pieces.

One of the items is a great looking, early 1890s, Extremely Rare, "COOPERS INTERNATIONAL UNION(CIU) - LOCAL 51 - PROVIDENCE, R.I." badge. This 2 .875" x 7" gold-tone tin hanger with a hanging blue silk ribbon with gold lettering is in MINT CONDITION with a UNION LABEL(Stamp) on the lower part of the face ribbon. This badge was worn by a proud union member to International Union Conventuions and in Labor Day parades. The badge was also worn to the fraternal and social evenys of the local union. The badge was reversed to the black silk ribbon with silver lettering when worn to a wake or funeral of a deceased brother member. Although most other similar badges have a hanging fringe, this ribbon was made without a ribbon which were one of the earlier pieces manufactured. You just don't find badges from the CIU since they were a very small International Union compared to other Unions. This early badge is a Extremely Rare piece and will make a nice addition to an CIU Union collection or a Labor Union collection.

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Brief History - Cooper's International Union (CIU)

Organization of coopers in the United States began during the colonial period, but these groups were primarily fraternal and benevolent. Legitimate trade unions did not appear until the 1830s with the agitation for a ten-hour day. Unions of coopers then arose in several cities, including strong organizations in New York City, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Most of these unions succumbed to the depression signaled by the panic of 1837, but few survived, including the Coopers Protective Union No. 1 of New York City, and played a role in the future development of labor organization in the trade .

During the Civil War and the immediate years, the demand for all cooperage increased dramatically. Although temporarily beneficial to the workers in the trade , the increased demand encouraged the development of machinery to replace hand labor. Barrel producers were especially interested in perfecting barrel-making machinery, and while the early machine-made barrels were crude and often leaked, experimatation in mechanization continued because producers (who were also consumers) could afford to use inferior products while awaiting machinery refinements. As the machines improved and made greater inroads in the trade, wages fell and coopers organized in self-defense.

Led by Martin A. Foran, Cleveland coopers conducted a long and bitter but successful strike during the early weeks of 1870. This struggle was almost lost when coopers in nearby cities supplied the struck shops with barrels. Foran issued a national call to coopers to meet in Cleveland, Ohio and organize national union . Thirteen delegates representing approximately 1500 coopers in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland responded and organized the Coopers International Union (CIU). Foran was elected president of the new national union.

The American Federation of Labor (AFL) chartered a short-lived Coopers National Union on January 16, 1888, but surrendered its charter in November. A permanent union of coopers was organized two years later in Titusville, Pennsylvania, on November 10, 1890. The CIU was one of the smallest national unions chartered b...

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