a unusual vented officers cap badge of the JLB - JEWISH LADS BRIGADE
Victorian era helmet plate type badge
in the form of a star topped with crown and at the base small shield reading " JLB "
with vented centre which can be opened and closed with raised centre piece
with rivet to each side
measuring 9cm x 10.3cm
complete as made unpolished
most unusual antique item , the best explanation i can come up with is
its normal for a observant jew to wear a kippah / head covering under a military or casual cap
so maybe the vent is there so the head covering can be shown ?
the badge is certainly a curio
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The JLB (Jewish Lads Brigade) a national Jewish youth organisation based in and primarily serving the United Kingdom. The UK's oldest Jewish youth movement, it was founded in 1895 as the Jewish Lads' Brigade by Colonel Albert E. W. Goldsmid, a senior army officer, to provide an interest for children of the many poor immigrant families who were coming into England at that time.
The first company was launched in London's East End but others soon appeared throughout the city and the provinces. The movement later spread as far as South Africa and Canada. Modelled on the Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade (and often referred to as its "Sister Organisation"), The Brigade catered for boys only in the early days, providing them with more than just spare-time activities. It offered food, clothes and the chance to learn skills which might help in finding a job, and it sought to turn young Jewish immigrant boys into good Englishmen.
Just 19 boys attended the first summer camp in 1896.
Girls were admitted to membership in the 1963 (as the Jewish Girls' Brigade) and in 1974 the JLB and JGB amalgamated to become the JLGB.