1982 Vintage USA Wrestling Shield Pin - Pre-1984 Olympic Era - Designs by Margarita

A vintage 1982 USA Wrestling shield pin by Designs by Margarita, made two years before the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The blue top of the shield carries "USA" in red on a white plaque, with a red-and-white striped band below it. The white lower field shows two wrestlers locked up, one in a red singlet, all set in a gold-tone frame.

The story behind this pin: Designs by Margarita was the pin company of Margarita Volker, known on the competition circuit as the "Pin Lady." The Los Angeles Times reported in 1985 that she started collecting sports pins in 1979, when her daughters took up gymnastics and ice skating, and soon began designing pins for local athletic clubs. The company was based in Orange County, California (in Fountain Valley in 1985, later in Huntington Beach). Her hand-enameled pins were made in Taiwan, and her line grew from five designs in 1979 to more than 600 by 1985, mostly sports designs. Her biggest moment came at the 1984 Games: she made the pins the U.S. Olympic Committee gave to the members of the U.S. winter and summer teams, and she sold other flag and sport designs to collectors during the Olympic pin-trading craze. This shield is dated 1982, so it comes from her early sports line, before the 1984 Olympic Team pins.

• Year: 1982 (dated on the back), before the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
• Sport: Wrestling
• Maker: Designs by Margarita (Margarita Volker, California)
• Design: Shield with "USA" on a white plaque over a blue top, a red-and-white striped band, and two wrestlers on a white field
• Style: Enamel, gold tone, cut to shape
• Size: approx. 7/8" x 1"
• Back: Stamped "© Margarita 1982," bar pin with safety catch

Packaging: All orders shipped in corrugated box for extra protection, we don't use bubble mailers.

Shipping: U.S. shipping is $4.95 flat per order, and free on orders of $35 or more.