Vintage Bezkydy Mountain Deer Stag Religious Hunting Walking Stick Shield

The face is 5cm high.
The picture features a stag deer and Holy cross and the text Bezkydy and the deer is an image of the deer that appeared to St Hubert, patron saint of hunters, who saw the holy cross between the antlers of a stag.

The tradition began in Central Europe sometime in the mid 1850's. A gentleman walker or hiker would set off to a destination attired in a hat, warm clothes and with a walking stick in hand. At the destination he could purchase a souvenier of his visit, a pressed metal plaque that a local craftsman would hammer onto his walking stick by means of two metal nails.

It was really a precursor to lapel pins or patches that people still buy today when they visit far off places. The walking stick owner would collect a plate for every tourist destination he walked to and the plate signified to observers, the experience and dedication of the walker.

By the 1930's the stocknagel had been largely superseded by pin badges and the rise of the automobile made places easier to get to, so the necessity to walk was tempered by the convenience of the motorcar.