Mystery Pins

Every now and then I come across a pin that is both Olympic and hockey related, and yet I cannot place the date of the pin. Over the years, I have collected dozens of pin books and brochures, and have located helpful website addresses (like http://www.olympicnocpins.info/), but even with these resources a handful of mystery pins elude my ability to tie them to a particular Olympic games. For instance, the pin below appears to be an Olympic NOC hockey pin from Spain, at least that is how I am interpreting the alternating red-yellow-red flag in the center of the pin. Spain has also not competed in any prior Olympic Winter Games hockey tournaments as far as I have been able to determine. In the case of this pin, the backside is entirely blank, thus providing no additional clues as to its origin. Even my email to the Spain NOC failed to produce a firm date for this pin . . . a mystery, indeed. Another such pin comes from an AHL minor league hockey team, the Lowell Lock Monsters, which made its home in Lowell, Massachusetts from 1998 through 2006. This pin was apparently produced pursuant to a sponsorship by the United Postal Service, but I have no idea of the date of this pin. The pin includes a phone number (disconnected) and website address (no longer valid) for a San Diego, California manufacturing company that appears to no longer exist.

I have about 20 such pins in my collection. I guess some things were just meant to remain mysteries.