A Philly Love Story (and Bracelet)

OK, full-disclosure--I’m not a big sports fan, and my civic involvement tends to be more Arts & Culture oriented... But I AM a big Philadelphia booster, and when your hometown teams are doing as well as the Eagles and the Phillies are right now, then that’s a different story! Green and Red usually only go together at Christmas, but these days, Eagles Green and Phillies Red dominate the landscape up and down Broad Street.

PHILLIES AND EAGLES JEWELRY

So our Philly Love charm bracelet features a FOOTBALL and a BASEBALL GLOVE in honor of our guys. There’s also a BASKETBALL HOOP, a stamped 76 DISC, and a cheerleader’s MEGAPHONE... so come on 76’ers—you’re next! You can see that sports really matter in Philadelphia.

WHAT’S ON A PHILLY CHARM BRACELET?

While we’re at it, let me tell you about the other charms...Starting with some history, WILLIAM PENN is the founder of Philadelphia and the centerpiece
of the bracelet. The LIBERTY BELL is the iconic symbol of Philadelphia’s key role in our nation’s independence. Did you know that we were the first capital of the United States? There’s a US FLAG, tipping the hat to Philly’s own Betsy Ross, who sewed the first one back in 1776 (that’s another reference for the 76 DISC...) The STAR also references the flag and our country, with a star for each state, and flags being updated every time a new state joined the union. Around the same time, Benjamin Franklin’s experiments with a kite, A KEY AND LIGHTNING BOLT led to the discovery of electricity!

WHAT DOES 'JAWN' MEAN?

I am a lifelong Philadelphian, and still trying to nail down what this means. Basically, Jawn is anything. A thing. An event. A place. So our Philly Love bracelet is also a Philly Jawn bracelet. Some modern additions to the bracelet include a CAMERA with retro pearl flash. That’s all about the tourists who visit the ‘City of Brotherly Love and sisterly affection’. LOVE is artist Robert Indiana’s iconic statue, anchoring Love Park on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It’s a major photo op, as is the Rocky Statue at the other end of the Parkway in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Speaking of the MUSEUM, it has a charm on the bracelet as well. Philly has so many great museums, including the Barnes Foundation, Rodin Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (the nation’s first museum and art school) and more... And finally, the SOFT PREZEL is absolutely a Philly jawn. They’ve been made and sold here since the 1820’s, and one article I read said that 80% of the United States’ pretzel production happens in Philadelphia. Who knew?! So there you go—that’s how you make a Philly Charm Bracelet. I write this as the Phillies are about to play game one of the National League Championships. So Go Phillies!