Little Orphan Annie Radio Decoder Pin

Submitted by Nessa November 18th, 2010
Certifikitsch Winner

The holidays are coming so I thought I’d send this in. Who can forget the scene in “A Christmas Story” where Ralphie is delighted to find his Little Orphan Annie decoder pin in the mail. Then, he ends up defeated when he finds out the “secret message” is really an ad for Ovaltine. “A Crummy Commercial!??!”

My dad got me this set for X-mas last year, since he knows I love that movie. This one is from 1935, I hear they issued different ones every year. My dad actually has a couple of Captain Midnight Ovaltine decoder pins from when he was a kid, too… I’ll have to dig those up and see if I can photo them.

These are in surprisingly good shape for being as old as they are, but I’m pretty sure they’re original. S.S. is for “Secret Society.” I want to write secret messages, but who would decode them? =)

6 Responses to “Little Orphan Annie Radio Decoder Pin”

  1. Allee Willis

    I don’t know that scene as i’ve never seen A Christmas Story! I know, that’s another crazy thing ust like I haven;t seen Wizard Of Oz. But God knows I know how popular Orphan Annie and decoder pins and rings were so I know this is a gem.

    I was never a big Orphan Annie fan and then when that musical came out it put it over the top for me. No Annie! With this said, I do have an ancient Orpan Annie doll I love and one of my earliest songs was called Orphan Allee and I sang the demo as a duet with Luther Vandross in 1975.

    There’s a really rare Orphan Annie toy here at AWMOK: https://www.alleewillis.com/awmok/kitschenette/2010/11/02/orphan-annie-pull-toy/

    And, yes, dig up those Capt. Midnight decoder pins too!

    • Nessa

      Thanks! It is a neat piece of memorabilia for sure, since I don’t think anyone is really promoting decoder pins anymore.

  2. Douglas Wood

    I’m not an Orphan Annie fan either, but this decoder pin is really cool (and so is your dad for getting it for you.) I also has much affection for A CHRISTMAS STORY.

  3. k2dtw

    Beautiful, what a great gift. I love A Christmas Story, and I watch it every year.
    Nessa have you ever been in Cleveland long enough to tour the home where they filmed A Christmas Story? I’m thinkin’ they might have some fine kitsch show up at their convention…smile
    http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/

    • Nessa

      I’ve been to Cleveland several times but I’ve not made it out to the house yet, it’s on my “to do” list. =)