Description:

Offered here his is a nice old original souvenir medal from the Portola Festival that was held in San Francisco, California in the year 1913 which was two years before the more well known Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915.

The Portola Festival was established in 1909 to celebrate the rebuilding and flowering of San Francisco as a city as it recovered from the Great 1906 Earthquake and Fire. The festival was named after the Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolà who was the first recorded European discover of the San Francisco Bay. The discovery was actually made by land and not by sea. It was made on November 4, 1769. The festival in 1913 also commemorated the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Vasco Nunez de Balboa in the year 1513.

The medal is round in shape and it is suspended from a metal banner pin that reads in capital letters: SOUVENIR. The word souvenir has a baked-on enamel paint background that is one half red and one half orange.

The front of the medal features a prancing Art Nouveau lady in a long flowing dress and high heels. The most interesting thing about the lady is that in her uppermost raised hand she is holding a cigarette. I find the smoking lady to be a little liberated considering that the medal was made for a 1913 public event. The print around the lady reads in raised capital letters: PORTOLA FESTIVAL SAN FRANCISCO 1913. The dates of the festival are also on the front of the medal and read: OCT. 22-25.

The back of the medal features a dancing California Grizzly Bear who is holding a large key in one paw. This key, I would believe, represented the Key to the City of San Francisco? The print around the bear reads in raised capital letters: 400TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. To the left of the bear is the year 1513 and to the right of the bear is the year 1913.

There is no maker’s name on the medal or the suspension bar. I once had a lady’s heart shaped Portola pin from the 1913 Portola Festival that was marked with a maker’s mark from Wisconsin. The maker of the lady’s heart pin was Schwabbs & S. Company of Milwaukee. That pin also had an old style open C type catch.

Size:

The medal has an outer diameter of 1 & 1/8”. Including the suspension bar from top to bottom it is 1 & 5/8” high.

Condition:

This medal is over 96 years old and the surface of both the front and the back have wear present. When originally made the surface of the front and back had a gold-like finish. This finish is worn off most of the front and on the back there is much less wear to the finish. The red and orange colored enameled paints behind the word souvenir are both worn. When viewed with magnification the orange paint shows a crazing pattern. Overall and considering that this souvenir is over 96 year old is in good condition.

I have made every effort to show the front and back of this medal as it actually appears. Please note that depending on the settings of the viewer’s monitor/computer the illustrations with this auction may look darker or lighter then what they actually are.

If you have any questions please ask them before bidding as all my auction sales are final. By bidding on this auction the bidder acknowledges to have read my description and my terms of sale and terms of shipping.

Thanks for taking a look at this original 1913 San Francisco Portola Festival medal that would make a nice addition to any collection or display.

This is a No Reserve Auction and “the winning bidder gets to take it home”.

Shipping & Handling For All US Postal Zones including Alaska and Hawaii:

$2.35 Shipping and Handling first class mail. I ship FOB Point of Origin and have done so on eBay for over 10 years. As a courtesy to the buyer of this item I will pay the cost of insurance up to a value of $50.00.