WWI era SALVATION ARMY PIN & AMERICAN RED CROSS PIN

Description

For sale are Two Different WWI era pins. One is a SALVATION ARMY PINS. The lithographic friends league pinback is dated 1919 and was given to donors. The Friends League of the Salvation Army was a membership drive which, in 1919, cost , or a year. The funds raised from membership subscriptions financed the activities of the Army. The other is a vintage AMERICAN RED CROSS BLOOD DONOR PIN. These pins are believed to date between WWI and WWII. Both pins are in good condition with a functional pin. Each pin measures about 1/2 inch diameter. Take both for a total of .
In 1865, William Booth began The Salvation Army as a means to help the suffering souls throughout London who were not willing to attend – or even welcomed into – a traditional church. Thieves, prostitutes, gamblers, and drunkards were among his first converts to Christianity, and as his ministry grew, the gospel of Jesus Christ was spread far and wide to the poor, the vulnerable, and the destitute. Converts became soldiers of Christ and were known then, as now, as Salvationists. They launched an offensive throughout the British Isles that, in spite of violence and persecution, converted 250,000 Christians between 1881 and 1885. Their message spread rapidly, gaining a foothold in America and soon after Canada, Australia, France, Switzerland, India, South Africa,
Iceland, and Germany.
In 1881, in Washington DC, Clara Barton and Adolphus Solomons founded the American National Red Cross, an organization established to provide humanitarian aid to victims of wars and natural disasters in congruence with the International Red Cross. During the 1940s, the Red Cross developed the first nationwide civilian blood donation program and is still responsible for more than 40% of the blood products in the U.S.