Pin, Promotional
Object number2015.42.20
Date1938
OriginBudapest, Hungary
MediumMetal
Credit LineGift of Susan Muir
DescriptionCircular bronze-tone metal pin. Relief on front depicts a chalice with a Chi-Rho cross; the cross is surrounded by arches of decoration; behind the chalice is a suspension bridge, probably the Budapest Chain Bridge. Back is gold-tone and has pinback vertical at center.Dimensions0.875 x 0.875 x 0.313 x 0.875 in. (2.2 x 2.2 x 0.8 x 2.2 cm)InscriptionsRaised text on front around the perimeter "XXXIV CONGRESS EVCHARISTIC INTERNAT / BVDAPEST 1938".
Additional text below base of chalice is illegible "M...".
MarksMaker's mark on back "LUDVIG B.P. TORV VED".
Historical NotesThe 34th International Eucharistic Congress took place in Budapest, Hungary from May 25-30, 1938. Part of a collection of WWII-related artifacts from the military service of Gabe Torisky of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who served with the 99th “Checkerboard” Infantry Division during the Ardennes campaign in Belgium. Martin Gabriel "Gabe" Torisky was of Slovak ancestry and was born on November 11, 1911, in Uniontown, PA. He moved to Pittsburgh in the 1920s and was drafted and sent to 99th Division during World War II. The 99th Division is especially important in relation to Pittsburgh, as the Division was originally headquartered in the city in 1942, and the unit insignia, a black shield with a checkerboard band of nine alternating white and blue squares (for “99”) was derived from the coat of arms for William Pitt and thus, also the city seal of Pittsburgh, on which the checkerboard also appears. Donor Susan Muir is Gabe Torisky's daughter.
Previous owner
Martin Gabriel Torisky
(born 1911)
Related institution
99th Infantry Division
Subjects
On View
Not on view
c. 1979
c. 1979
1954
1938