✅ SOLVED Found this at an old abandonded school in Rockingham county NC....

[beth71070]

This little pin (or button) was found today by hubby "Shen13" , we can make out the words "Pentacostal Holiness" and maybe "S. S." but was really wondering what it was given for or what it stood for (if anything)...Unfortunately we dont know much info regarding Pentecostal religion (we're all Methodists) but would LOVE to have ANY info regarding this little pin that anyone might have on it....The school yard it was found on has been closed down at least 20 or so years...Thanks guys!!!

 

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[duggap]

I'm gonna guess. How about an attendance pin for Sunday School?

 

[beth71070]

Sounds good to me!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Duggap's guess is correct. This is one of the cases in which I did not learn the ID from a relic-book, but I instead know it because I'm an oldtimer who long ago used the thing in the photo myself. It is a Sunday School "attendance award" pin. I wore one myself as a child in the 1950s at a Methodist church.

So, their usage was not limited to the Pentecostal Holiness church.

There are many very-similar variations... for example, having a different background color for the number of years of attendance.

They are difficult to date, because they are still being made and sold today. Some have a manufacturers-mark on the back, which can sometimes give you a date range.

 

[beth71070]

Wow!!! How Cool! And I love the way you knew exactly what it is and what it was for!!! Super Neat and THANK YOU for sharing that.... Hmpfff!-My Grandmother made sure I went to Sunday school EVERY Sunday morning before service and I NEVER got a cool pin like that! I think they did give us all the juice and chip ahoy cookies we could eat during our hour though!...The back of the pin is VERY dirty and I did a gentle cleaning of it just now to see what it says ---Im going to have to take my time and figure out what the best course of cleaning the rest of the way to make it all out but I can tell you it looks like an engraved picture of a cross wiyh a ribbon around the bottom of it with the letters Y S T E under that ...so far thats all I can make out on the back but any advice on cleaning it so as not to scratch or compromise the very fine engravements would be super!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

You might be able to find similar examples of church Sunday School "attendance award" pins for sale on the internet. Most will be new-made ones, for sale by the manufacturer or a dealer. For example, there's a bunch for sale at the following website, but the backs aren't shown: Cross and Crown Sunday School Attendance Award Pins & Bars

I decided it would be better to search the internet for "used" ones. I searched for Ebay auctions which show the pin's back, and I found the maker's-mark that is on your pin's back. It says "Little's Cross And Crown System."

I did additional research and found only one result which tells a date for a "vintage" Sunday School attendancepin with the same makers'-mark as yours. It dates the pin as being from 1930-40. Union Station Kansas City

Apparently, the marking saying "Little's Cross and Crown System" was used by the Christian Finance Association. It dates at least as far back as the 1913, but continued for at least 50 years, perhaps more. I do not know if it is still operating today -- but it might be. That means there's no way to know from the maker's-marking whether your Sunday School attendance-award pin was made in the 1930s or 50s or 70s, etc. Sorry, but this is the best I could do for you.

I found a long .pdf document at the following webpage, dated 1913, which says "These [Corn Club pins] may had be ordered from the Christian Finance Association, 80 Maiden Lane, New York, N.Y."
http://aurora.auburn.edu/repo/bitstream/handle/11200/1833/1019CIRC.pdf?sequence=1

For cleaning the back of excavated (dug) 20th Century brass items, I use plain ammonia (cleaner) poured into a small bowl, and soak the brass object for a minute or two, then gently scrub with a toothbrush. Do NOT let it soak for more than two minutes. (Also, be sure to rinse the object thoroughly when you're finished cleaning.) I said "dug 20th Century brass" because dug 1800s-&-earlier brass can be harmed by using pure ammonia. For those items, I dilute the ammonia 50/50 with water.