Bloomington Owney tag

Owney, American, c. 1888 - 1897 · 1888-1897

Owney received this item during his travels. The lettering is badly faded, with little more than the individual’s first name “James” and the town of “Bloomington” [Indiana] still visible. There is no additional information on the full identity of the donor. The item was most likely a Civil War-era soldier’s identification tag. Such tags were purchased by soldiers who wanted to insure their bodies could be identified in case of death. There is nothing with this item to indicate when it was given to Owney.