Saturday, May 12, 2012

The Fellowship of the Pin

Funny story.

I was at work yesterday, having a casual conversation with one of my co-workers. We'll call her Peggy. She was telling me a story about her family, and we were chatting about life in general. You know. No big whoop.

At some point during our discussion, I noticed something shiny on her shirt. It was a pretty round brooch. It had gold swirlies with a tiny chip of diamond in the center. Upon further inspection, I realized it was the 1972 Weight Watchers 16-week award.

Holy. Flipping. Crap.

My eyes fixated on that thing like a fighter jet pilot locked on his target.

As Peggy told me a story about her grandson, I found myself staring at the pin and bursting with excitement. Where did she get it? Was she aware of its powers? Could I touch it???

So I waited for Peggy to pause from her story, and I jumped right in.

"Peggy." I said. Trying to sound calm. "Is that a 1972 Weight Watchers Pin? And if so, can I take a picture of it?"

The Precious


Luckily, she agreed. We laughed and shared some fun Retro WW stories. Turns out Peggy was a WW member as a teenager. She loved tuna, but never ate the liver, though. She joined with her mom and her sister back in the 1970's, and they all lost weight together. 

Peggy's story gave me a warm feeling inside as I thought about all the daughters and moms out there who have made Weight Watchers a "family affair". With Mother's Day approaching, I can't think of a better way to celebrate the female bond than to salute all of the women who have been inspired by their moms, daughters, sisters, aunts and best friends to get healthy and change their lives.

My mom has always been my role model. She's also my best friend and Weight Watchers buddy. We stick together through thick and thin. Then thick again and thin again. But mostly thin.

And there's nobody else I'd rather hang out with and share a carton of low fat cottage cheese.


Have a Happy & Healthy Mother's Day


12 comments:

kriggers said...

I have one of those. :o) It was a gift a while back. The stone is missing, so I need to replace it. But when I get to goal, which is 30 pounds to go, I will will wear it with pride. I have seen them on ebay. :o)

Lynn Thompson said...

The pin is stuck in my head. I did WW for the first time in 1978. I want that pin!! If I got one I don't remember. I do know I paid $3 a week for the meeting which was held in a church and the scale sat up near the Altar allowing a moment of prayer before you faced the numbers :)

Unknown said...

HI, did you ever get your weight watchers pin? I know that they have them on ebay, but I was given a jewelry box full of vintage Sarah Coventry jewelry, and included in it was not one but two of those pins..I would be happy to give you one..I actually laughed out loud at the pic when I saw that it was titled "the precious". So funny! They weere meant to inspire, and I will gladly share. best wishes,, Patti S.

Unknown said...

How much is this pin worth?

E. Jane said...

At one time the WW pin had diamond chips. At least it did in 1974.

Unknown said...

I have a WW pin from my Mom it has 5 diamond chips in it. What dose each chip stand for dose anyone know?

Unknown said...

I recently found my mom's arly 70s WW Pin with 5 diamonds too! From what I can find from similar pins on line is that each diamond represents 10lbs lost. I'm not sure an I'm only guessing an what I can find, back then the "diamonds" are real chips but again I'm just guessing you'd need a real WW Pro/expert to say for sure.

Unknown said...

That pin is not a 16 week pin, but an award for losing 10 lbs. Each 10 lbs. got you a new diamond chip. We were told at the time that the chips really were diamonds.

Anonymous said...

I just received one today that I found on Etsy! I reached Lifetime in Oct last yr… love my diamond chip WW pin!

Anonymous said...

I received a good-looking necklace charm with a diamond(?) Chip.... Anyone know it it's the real deal?

Anonymous said...

Also for WW goal.

Anonymous said...

I have a weight watchers pin with 7 stones for the loss of pounds
But the back is shaped BN where most I've seen have the LP or BD
.initials
Any info would be appreciated.