Wanna swap? Calgary pin fanatics celebrate the 25th anniversary of the start of their obsession—the Olympics

Ringleader Pin trading is a practice that has its origins in the first modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens. Athletes would trade pins as a sign of good will. Fans got in on the scene in the 1980s (the world’s largest Olympic pin-trading club, Olympin, formed in 1982 after the Winter Games in Lake Placid). Calgary was the first Olympics to have an official pin-trading centre.

Post-Podium The Calgary International Pin Club formed in 1989 after the Olympics and held its first Festival of Pins in 1991. This year’s festival will be the 23rd and the theme is the 25th anniversary of the Calgary Olympics. Members of the club are holding a contest to see who can bring down the best pin related to a 25th anniversary. The winner gets a complete collection of the festival’s commemorative pins.

Pins, Pins, Pins It started with Olympic pins, but now Calgary International Pin Club members collect pins from a bunch of different sources: the Canadian Football League, the Calgary Flames and the Hard Rock Café, to name a few. Club vice president Mark Mogen has over 6,500 pins and specializes in collecting what are called “super host” pins from the Stampede. “Only a certain number of staff get them and some of them are treasured by the staff, obviously, at that moment in time,” says Mogen. “But somewhere along the way they always end up in your collection.”

Do You Ever Wear Them? “I’d probably say no,” says Mogen. “Some of the members do, and they acquire more than me. Sometimes when you wear them they attract other people to give you more.” Instead, Mogen frames them with related items. He mounted some of the pins he got from the Vancouver Olympics with tickets to the events.

The Festivities At the festival, you can trade, buy or sell pins. If you’re looking to sell your pins for a king’s ransom, however, you may want to temper your expectations. “People always think they’re worth more than they really are,” explains Mogen. “People come down with the Olympic stuff and unless it’s something really rare that most members are missing, there’s so much that is common there’s not a lot of value anymore.”