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VINTAGE CLOISSONE
ENAMEL LAPEL PIN
MANUFACTURED BY
GREENDUCK COMPANY
FOR THE COYNE ELECTRICAL SCHOOL
OF CHICAGO IL
CIRCA 1920 - 1930
DEPRESSION ERA AMERICANA
MEASURES ABOUT 22mm




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FYI

Coyne College (formerly known as Coyne American Institute) is a for-profit college with two campuses located in the United States in Chicago, Illinois. Coyne American Institute has provided technical training in Chicago Since January 1899. Coyne American Institute was established as the Coyne Electrical School of Chicago.

In 1960s, the Coyne Electrical School merged with the American Institute of Engineering and Technology to become Coyne American Institute. Coyne American Institute and its predecessor schools have trained and placed thousands of students in professional careers.

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Coyne American Institute: A 100-year-old training gem
July 19, 2000

CHICAGO, IL — The year was 1899. The President was William McKinley. Marconi arrived in the United States to display his wireless telegraph.
U.S. automobile production reached 2,500 vehicles. A century of steam power was drawing to a close, and the age of electricity was dawning.

And another thing was true in 1899: There was a need for well-trained, skilled technicians.

Coyne American Institute, possibly the Midwest’s oldest technical trade school, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

In 1899, the Coyne Electrical School of Boston established a branch of its technical school in Chicago. (The Boston school had been established by the Coyne brothers three years earlier.)

Setting standards
Over the next 50 years, the school (operated by the B.W. Cooke family) started many training traditions, such as:
The Coyne three-step “Practical Technical Training Method,” under which students are taught classroom theory, practical demonstration, and real job performance; Ongoing placement support for graduates; and
Partnerships with industry and community organizations.
As the age of radio evolved, Coyne’s proficiency in radio training proved vital to the war effort in the 1940s. When television became the main source of in-home entertainment in the 1950s, TV service and repair was added.

However, the school’s core of excellence is in its electrical maintenance and hvacr curricula.

When Coyne Electrical merged with the American Institute of Engineering and Technology in the late 60s, Coyne American Institute took shape and the current location on Fullerton Ave. became home.

The school now offers core training in electronics, including computer training from the technician’s perspective.

Hat’s off to this 100-year-old tradition that’s poised to ride the wave of the future!

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The company with the funny name was founded in 1906 by two Chicago men. One was George G. Greenburg (formerly with Chicago diesinking firm Childs & Company). The other was Harvey Ducgheisel (probably of German nationality). For their new firm they chose the name "Greenduck" as how the first syllable of each of their last names were spoken. They had intended the name to be one word but so many people used it as two words that the company itself adopted that form, ultimately to become Green Duck Metal Stamping Company.

And metal stamping they did. Their products list was boundless, including many of numismatic interest. They made the American Numismatic Association's convention badge for the Cleveland ANA Convention in 1954 and the Chicago ANA Convention of 1955. They struck campaign medals, lots of tokens, medals, badges, so-called dollars, and watchfobs -- right from the very start -- adding Mardi Gras doubloons and casino chips in their later years.

But their specialty was pinback buttons among a wide assortment of products, often lithographed in color. These included buttons, tabs, label buttons, book marks, small advertising signs, crickets, key tags, fare tokens, arcade tokens, on and on. In fact a 1930s advertisement listed 48 such products. Early on they even struck Illinois state license plates, and, souvenir spoons for the 1934 Chicago World's Fair.

The company changed ownership and moved from Chicago to Hernando, Mississippi in 1962. It was here they struck Mardi Gras doubloons and, in 1983, their first casino chip. The firm changed ownership again but could not sustain operations and went out of business in 2004.

Green Duck items are well known to collectors, particularly to the customers of Hakes Americana & Collectibles which frequently offers Green Duck buttons as collectors' items. The firm, headed by Ted Hake, featured the company's button archives -- consigned by a Chicago collector -- in a January 19-20, 2010 auction sale.