Q: I’m obsessed with Disney pins. I have more than 300 pins, and I’m only 11! Could you describe what the first pin made looked like and when it was made? Also, is it in the Archives? When did pin trading start, and why did Disney start trading pins?
Kobe, Delaware, Ohio
A: One of the earliest Disney pins I have seen is a Mickey Mouse Chums pin made in England in the 1930s; there is an example of it on display in the Archives. But actual pin trading at the parks began at Walt Disney World in 1999, and at Disneyland the following year.
Dave Smith