America is County Fairs, and this First Annual Chelan County Fair Advertising Button from 1901 proves that we have loved them for decades. Chelan County, by the way is in the beautiful state of Washington.

The pin face shows an interesting composite picture of mountains with the town of Wenatchee at its base, the Columbia river and the paddle-wheeler Chelan gently floating past rail tracks and an oil well.
At the top most part of the scene the words:

First Annual
Chelan County Fair
September, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1901. (and the letters ww beside that in a quite small size)

The wording shows that it was cut from another source to make up the needed phrase and then placed on top of the picture. The word “Wenatchee” has been added the same way at the bottom.

More like a brooch that we would expect to see from this era, it measures 1 5/8” across with the pin extending almost 2/8” out past the rim of the piece. The pin closes with a C clasp and has a tube hinge. (this kind of fastener and hinge were used between 1850 and 1910) There is twisted metal braiding around the outside of the pin and I believe it has a gold wash covering it which is still mostly there.
There is what looks to be a brass plate covering the entire back and held on by prongs.

Please note, I have not tested this as It would possibly harm the pin to do so and I am only using an educated guess that this is indeed gold wash. (Gold wash is similar to gold plating, but is a much thinner coating. A gold wash item has been dipped into a thin wash of gold and it adheres to the metal and in this case would not be enough gold to add any real value to the pin.)

The pin comes to you by way of my late Father-In-Law who inherited it from his Father-In-Law. How it came to be in his possession no one actually knew, but he liked to collect buttons of all kinds and did so for years.

Condition is very good for being over a century old, it has a slight bend to one edge with makes it not be a perfect circle. And the clear covering (may or may not be original) needs to be readjusted as shown in my photos. I will let that up to the next owner. The pin mechanism still works beautifully.

FYI: I had a wonderful time researching this pin. The Chelan County Fair is still in operation today and will be holding its Annual opening, as usual.

Please see my Terms of Sale under that heading to the right of this listing in the drop down box under that name. I want you to be happy with your purchase because I am happy you shopped here.