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So Many Questions: Questioning the Components and Origin of My CAA Medal

 

Place of Origin?

My object could have been made in variety of countries. Since I have no knowledge as to where CAA organizers purchase their medals to bestow to athletes, I will choose the U.S. as its imagined place of origin. From my knowledge, the elements comprised in a medal often turn from liquidated states to hardened structures. For example: When a blacksmith makes weaponry, tools, and other items which require smelting, they must use an element of choice to place within a fiery furnace, which will then be withdrawn to craft a specific shape. The process is repeated until the desired shape of an object is created. Though I do not think that my medal would require the same exact process to craft as that of a sword or a hardware tool, I do believe that steps to craft either a sword or a medal might be quite similar. I will also add in the fact that today, humans are assisted by technology to craft objects like my medal, so its production might be a lot less taxing on the human body than it would be without the assistance of machinery.

I believe that because the CAA needs to mass produce medals to give to athletes, there may be a stock of them made every year in which the athletic competitions take place. In my case, sense I won the medal in 2019 and in the case of convenience, I believe the companies that distribute medals like mine make them during or around the time in which the medals are to be awarded.

Questions:

Having hypothesized the ability of medal-making companies to produce medals like mine on such short notice, I have three main questions:

1.     Which companies are known for making athletic medals?

2.     Are there any companies based in the U.S. who cater to organizations like CAA?

3.     What medals (Olympic, collegiate, military, scholastic, etc.) crafted from?

 

Research Aftermath:

Though I could not find the answer as to what elements were used to craft my medal, I did find some very educational information on the Encyclopedia Britannica website concerning my third question. Here, John Graham Pollard discusses the common elements found within commemorative medals and even lays out a brief history of medal crafting and consumption. Graham denotes that the “finer” kinds of medals are made of gold, silver, bronze, and lead[1]. Graham’s inclusion of medal elements falls in line with what I believe a military or Olympic medal would be crafted from. In the case of my collegiate medal, I must continue to research exactly what it is made from. Another interesting factor added in Graham’s article is that machine cutters which came about in the 19th century eliminated hand cutting while taking away from “medalist work”[2]. Graham’s observation of the ability of technology to take away from the originality of a medalist on his/her medal is very pertinent to conversations of product analysis in which students within Temple University's Material Culture course have familiarity. Since my thesis revolves around Black WWI soldiers such as those who fought in New York's 369th Regiment, I would love to look into the process of making medals in which members of this regiment were awarded by the French military (the Croix De Guerre).

                                         Croix De Guerre: WWI [3]


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