021 – 1933 Class Ring

This is Ms. Charlsie’s class ring from 1933.  It’s 76 years old.  It’s missing the insignia that was attached to the front that said “Flippin 1935”. But, she’s kept it all these years.

Our conversation today somehow led to her telling me about how she got it...

When she was a junior in high school, her mother told her she wanted Charlsie to have a class ring and she offered to pay for it.  But, I guess when the time came, her momma didn’t have the money. So, she told Charlsie to go ask her older brother, Red, to see if he could give her the money.  He did.  Charlsie said she worked chopping cotton for Red all the time and later, when she had earned money, offered to repay him for the ring.  Her Dad told her that the cotton she had chopped all summer for Red was more than enough to settle the debt. She said it was the one time she remembers her Daddy “coming to her side”.  Then she giggled and got up to go get the ring from her bedroom and brought it back to share with me.

I liked how simple the design was. I would’ve loved to have seen it as she remembers it with the insignia still intact. But, I sure loved seeing it on her weathered hand.