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© St. Petersburg Times, published February 19, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG -- French and English royalty wore them in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Sultry actor Marlene Dietrich had some.
And divorcee Wallace Simpson presented a pair to her lover, England's King Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne so he could marry her.
We're talking about cuff links. For the younger generations who think jewelry might be a nose or navel ring, cuff links used to hold men's long shirt sleeves together before they were replaced with machine-attached buttons.
"I still wear cuff links to church every Sunday," said Travis Tunis, a retired banker who winters in St. Petersburg and lives in Anderson, Ind., the rest of the year. "I used to wear them every day in my business."
Tunis, 80, also a World War II Army veteran, will give a talk on his collection Feb. 26 at a meeting sponsored by the Friends of the Seminole Library.
Tunis, who retired in 1985 as the senior executive vice president of the Anderson Banking Co. (now National City Bank), has been collecting cuff links for more than 20 years. He has 3,000 pairs and brought about 300 with him to St. Petersburg.
"I like collecting cuff links," said Tunis, "because it is something my wife, Mary Jo, and I enjoy looking for together. Also, there is a certain art form in the many different designs."
"It's really his hobby," said Mrs. Tunis, "but it's fun to look for them." The couple also collect old quilts and cut glass.
Over the years, Tunis and his wife have bought cuff links at flea markets, auctions, and estate and yard sales for 25 cents to $250. Others have been received as gifts.
The most expensive cuff links Tunis owns are engraved with the presidential seal, patterned after some worn by former President Ronald Reagan.
Tunis' links have blue stones, red stones and advertising motifs (particularly from distilleries). He also has presidents and politicians, warriors (many of which are cameos on onyx), and some he loosely calls "household items," such as a knife and fork set, typewriters, sunglasses, shoes and shirts.
One category is called "doers."
"That's because they all do something," said Tunis, a member of the 8,000-member National Cuff Link Society. For instance, there's a pair of San Francisco cable cars that turn on a circle and a pair of roulette wheels with a moving ball in each.
His oldest is a single cuff link dating to the Civil War. "It's either made of ivory or bone; we're not sure which," he said. It has the name W.R. Reed engraved on it and was given to Tunis many years ago by a woman in her late 90s. It belonged to her husband's great-grandfather.
-- Times researcher Caryn Baird assisted in this report. Information was also obtained from the Financial Post, the National Cuff Link Society and Encyclopedia Britannica.
Travis Tunis will present the "History of Cuff Links" at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 26 at the Seminole Community Library, 9199 113th St. N. For information, call 397-2112.