I was stumped earlier this year when I was contacted by the Carleton Place and Beckwith Museum with a picture of a wire thingy in their collection and asked if I knew how it was used… I couldn’t help. However, when they did find an identical one on its original display card they shared their find. It’s an early 1940s collar stay to keep men’s collar points crisp!


I’ve just googled this as I was reading a biography of a guy who joined the USAAF in 1942 and had to buy one. Never heard of it before
Great to have a reference that they were part of the dress uniform!
My father was a TSGT into USAAF and gave it to me to use with my Class A uniform in ROTC in 1967 – 69. I kept using it on active duty in the 70’s. The A uniform was a tan shirt, black tie, green trousers and green blouse. It was still the A uniform when I separated in ’76. The Spiffy gave the shirt collar a sharp, crisp look.
Thanks for the testimonial!