Profile: Lapel Pins – 1980 World Championships, Dortmund, West Germany
Rightly or wrongly, the city of Dortmund, Germany, is known more as an industrial hub rather than as a glamorous and cosmopolitan city like Munich or Berlin. But that fact hasn’t stopped Dortmund from a racking up a long history of hosting major figure skating events, from the 1950s into the mid-2000s. In an unfortunate mirroring of the industrial label the city bears, the pin issued for the 1980 World Figure Skating Championships, held inside the huge Westfalenhalle, is decidedly utilitarian in design. In fact, it can be considered as uninspired.
In the opinion of The Curator of The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins, there was a missed opportunity in 1980 to mark the World Championships with a pin befitting the event’s prestige, not to mention the chance to commemorate the first World Championships of a new decade with a standout lapel pin. But the simple color palette of black and blue on an acrylic base tries unsuccessfully to mimic the icy feeling of figure skating itself but instead only looks cold and drab, and the acrylic base is cheap and unattractive.
Central to the design of the 1980 World Figure Skating Championships pin is the compulsory figure called the loop, an iconic representation of the sport …
Central to the design of the pin is the compulsory figure called the loop, an iconic representation of the sport that has been seen on numerous event pins from major figure skating events, many of them held in Germany. The loop tracing sits to the lower right side of the pin over an ice surface pattern, with key details worked in at the top and left. Along the top is the event name: “Weltmeisterschaften im Eiskunstlaufen.” Just below that, in stacked fashion, are the event date, venue, and location: “11.-16. März 1980, Westfalenhalle, Dortmund.” Separating the date and location is the logo that depicts, in part, Dortmund Tourism (DO), the facade of the Westfalenhalle, and the Florianturm, a telecommunications tower and Dortmund landmark in nearby Westfalen Park. And enclosed in the smaller loop of the figure is the logo of the Dortmund Union Brewery, another landmark in the city and whose logo once stood atop the Westfalenhalle. (These same elements would again be used three years later on the pins made to commemorate the 1983 European Figure Skating Championships, also held in Dortmund.) A thin blue border frames the pin, which measures approximately 1″ x 1‑3/8″ (2.5 cm x 3.5 cm).
The 1980 World Championships pin pales significantly in comparison to that issued 16 years earlier for the 1964 World Figure Skating Championships in Dortmund. The loop figure also appeared on that pin and is one of the earliest known instances of the figure being used as artwork on an event pin.
Enjoy this week’s figure skating pins blog: 1980 World Figure Skating Championships Pins: A Missed Opportunity. And be sure to read the museum story for more information about figure skating pins.
Pin Gallery: 1980 World Figure Skating Championships
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