Images(4)

Tag, Animal

Object number2021.128.4

MediumAluminum(?); Metal

Credit LineGift of Janet Yodanis

DescriptionFive pigeon leg bands strung on a wire loop. Bands are silver metal (aluminum?) with raised alpha-numeric text on sides. Wire loop is twisted closed at top.DimensionsLength x Width x Depth: 1.125 × 1 × 0.375 in. (2.9 × 2.5 × 1 cm)
InscriptionsEach band has unique raised text on sides:
"AU 48 LC 2417";
"AU 43 PGH 6615";
"AU 48 THC 131";
"AU 46 L 3337"; and
"AU 48 LC 2435".
Historical NotesMetal pigeon tags/bands that were put on the birds' legs to identify the bird club and owner. Prior to a pigeon race the timer clock would be taken to the local club where the clock would be set and a metal seal welded on. When the pigeon returned to the loft from the race they would have a rubber band on their leg, this band would be put in a metal capsule and the dropped in the timer and turned with a key. This would stamp the time of the bird’s return. John Yodanis had been racing pigeons since the age of 14, an interest that had been passed to him from his father and elder brother Anthony. He raced until the day he died at the age of 78. He was born on a farm in O’Hara Township in 1910. In 1924, when John started racing, he joined a robust community of pigeon racers, with a Pittsburgh Center that boasted 2,400 members. John, who was known as “a real ace flyer,” according to his daughter Janet, both raced and bred the imported Belgian homing pigeons used by the fancier community. Not a “mob flyer” who entered many birds in the race, John only entered a few top racers. He belonged to the Lawrenceville Center Homing Club where he served multiple terms as president during the 1970s and also flew with several other local clubs, among them the Pittsburgh Racing Pigeon Concourse, North Side Triangle Club, and the Pittsburgh Central Combine. He participated in the sport for more than 60 years, all while working on his family farm and then jobs at H.J. Heinz Company and the National Valve Company where he was a steamfitter for 40 years. 1938 remained the only year he did not race because he married Helen Zabielski, she became a pigeonette—as the wife of pigeon racers were known in the predominantly male sport. They had three children Janet, John, and Susan. Janet remembers reporting the race results for her father.

Previous owner John Yodanis (born 1910)

Related institution Lawrenceville Center Homing Club

Related institution Pittsburgh Racing Pigeon Concourse

Related institution North Side Triangle Club

Related institution Pittsburgh Central Combine

Related institution H. J. Heinz Company (founded 1888)

Related institution National Valve and Manufacturing Company

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