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Submitted by Christine R
Nothing guaranteed a future falling out more than these “Best Friends” necklaces, but it’s hard not to appreciate the romantic sentimentality of friendship being represented by, uh, bling. I suspect these were from the ’80s, but I’m not sure. Anyone know when these necklaces were popular?
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I think it is more of a developmental era than a fixed point in time. These prelude-to-you-stealing-my-boyfriend charms are still alive and well in the 10-13 year old girl demographic, I’m afraid…
These were super popular in the ’90s. My best friend and I had one when we were about 14 years old.
I think late 80’s, early 90’s. I got one from my best friend for Christmas, and I remember being disappointed that I got that instead of a New Kids on the Block doll.
I would not want either of those. What horrible presents.
I know my friends and I had them in the late 80’s.
You never saw guys wearing these with other guys.
You ever notice that?
No i never noticed that, thank you for pointing it out.
Well, for folks like you, I have to spell it out, so….
I know that a quick “pound it” suffices.
No, for boys, this was entirely too close to being intimate.
But now they use terms like ‘bromance’.
GO FIGURE.
My best friend gave me a half when I moved to Bangladesh (in ‘98). I never wore it as a necklace, I put in on my keychain. (I’m a guy, just to make that clear). When I returned two years later with a strange Indiana/Virginia accent, she didn’t want to know me. xD
I think the idea was borrowed from the Mizpah. The word stood for a phrase from Old Testament that goes “The Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from the other”. My dad carved a necklace with the word on it for my mom during WWII when it was a very popular idea, as you can imagine. One version had the whole phrase on a coin, which was broken in two and then each party got one piece. A little more poignant than the BFF necklaces, but kind of the same idea. You can find Mizpah jewelry if you look online.
That’s really sweet ;_;
Wow, that’s really cool! Thanks for teaching me something new.
My “best friend” and I had these when we were about 10, in the early 90s. She had “be frie”, I had “st nds”. I always felt like she had the better one.
take out the n and you had stds
Maybe, but hers are thiiiis close to “be fried”.
Or “be free”
I hated getting the back part because it says “Street Ends”. “Be Free” was cooler. Unfortunately those damn things got cheap and everyone had to give them out. I do still have a nice one that’s real gold though.
I always thought it was “Saint Ends.” At least, that’s what I told myself because that was the half I had. I thought at least my half was holy.
I bought a yin-yang one of these for me and my BFF last week XD
Yeah, I’d say mid-90’s, though I was always a little behind the curve when it came to “cool” stuff.
God, I remember those damn things.
I had some in the late 90s and even 2000-2002 or so. I preferred the ones that weren’t heart-shaped myself… and I’m actually still best friends with at least one girl I shared them with!
I never thought of these things as particularly cool, and i’m not about to call this a win.. but yes, i had one. it was that or the plastic harmonica @ Chuck E. Cheese.
Oh, my friend gave me one of these back in 2003 in 3rd grade.
She moved away shortly after, she probably forgot about me. But I still wear the necklace although I’m in high school. It’s under my shirt all the time.
OMG Tanner, you just made me feel really old. That was the year I graduated from high school.
OMG ginandtonic, I must be ancient. My DAUGHTER was a Junior in high school that year!
Nope, I wore this with my friend Nicolle in 6th grade in the late 80s. We had them in earrings – one ear was half the heart, the other earring just a big ball. Gawd the 80s were dumb. They also made these in triples, if I’m not mistaken – circles with three parts for a triangle of best friends.
You are right. I remember the triples one. I grew up in the early 90’s and we had those all over the place when I was in 4th through 6th grade.
I wanted half of one, even though I didn’t have a friend. I was jealous because my sister had a friend who gave her half of one, and they played Twister and went to each other’s houses and had sleepovers.
I still see these in the girly shops these days and wish I had someone to share one with.. just as I did when I was little. aww..
yeah. these things suck when you don’t have a best friend.
Is it sad that I agree with you?
i definitely remember these from 1987/88. i wanted one so badly, but my parents wouldn’t let me do it
I gave one to my best friend ‘L’ in the early 90s. A mutual friend ‘C’ told me that she didn’t mind it coming from me but she would have been offended if it had been from someone ‘L’ actually liked because really she was ‘C’s best friend. ‘L’ and I had a good laugh about that one.
I don’t think these are a prelude to the ending of a friendship. MY best friend & myself got these has a christmas gift the year we started school & its been almost 21 years. We also both still have them even though we don’t wear them anymore.
They’re actually relatively timeless: I shared one with a friend back in the 70’s. In 1800’s literature, such as Louisa Mae Alcott, you’ll find references to them, as well.
My sister got a set for us. One half says “big sis” the other says “lil sis”.
This was recently by the way. She got them for us for mothers day this year. Pretty cool I would say.
My fiance (now ex-husband) and I had these in the early 90s when we were engaged. We wore them when he was on a 6-month deployment with the Navy–the ones that said “The Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent one from another”, not the “Best Friends” ones, but same general idea. I thought it was sweet, but now it’s so common it’s just blah.
Hahaha this is so perfect! Win! Me and my best friend just recently bought one of these necklaces from a vintage store. The one we got is from the late 80’s. I have “Be frie”, and she has “St nds”.
We got them for the specific reason that we are High-Schoolers and NO ONE wears best friends necklaces at our age anymore.
We like odd things like that.
My best friend and I never had the necklaces…. we had the friendship bracelets ‘cuz we were cheap like that LOL… still have ‘em and we’re still best friends too… been best friends since kindergarten (well, I was in kindergarten, she was in 1st grade).
Haha, yeah, especially the ones you learned to braid yourself from embroidery thread?
Those were the bomb.
These were all the rage in the early 90’s. I came from a fairly small town so all the girls were friends and they each had like 20 of them around their necks.
My 8 year old son just got half of one of these necklaces from a girl on his swim team…she misses him because they swim in different groups and wanted to give him something to remember her by. Very cute.
I remember these being around (and popular) as early as the 70s. I think their popularity comes in waves.
some time during the mid-90’s, my friend from next door gave me one of those necklaces. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. That is, until an hour later when she took it back.
I had one with the “The Lord watch between you and me…” statement in the early 90s. Of course, the irony is that statement in context is about a pact made by two men who couldn’t stand or trust each other. They had adjacent territory, and marked the border and “the Lord watch…” statement was essentially one of them asking God to keep the other one honest…
i had about a billion of these. including an animaniacs one lmao
that was in the 90s
i had a three way one with two of my friends, so you only got a few letters on each! ha! a few years back my friend got a key chain one at clairs, we were like 29 at the time, so it was funny to have one, we have been “best friends” for over 25 years, so it just seamed right.
I think these were pretty popular in the late 80’s and all trough the 90’s. I had once in Jr. high with someone I havent seen or spoken to since, well…Jr. High! These necklaces were build from lies…FAIL!
I remember these when I was little. My friend and I had one.
That was back in the 90’s
These were big about the time when I was in second grade, so 1992-ish?
I had one that broke into three pieces, I wonder if my other best friends still have theirs.
I remember these from the 90’s and maybe up to 2003? I had a horrid pink plastic one that I shared with my friend (who I’m still friends with thankfully) and she got the “st ends” part because she lived on the end of a culdesac (get it?) and I got “be fri” because I loved fries
Lord, I remember these things from middle school (mid to late 90’s). I had about six “best” friends at the time and we all had those. I’m only friends with two of those girls today.
I remember those (or quite similar one’s) were called Twin Peaks -hearts here in Finland. Could that explain some popularity at 90’s?
I had one with my friend when i was 8 and 14.
I’m 22 now.
everyone was insistent on getting the be fri side. i dont understand why. anyone know?
My husband (then boyfriend) and I had a Mizpah necklace when we were dating in the late 80s. It must have been cheap metal because he turned his blue-green (mine did not turn.) We still have them somewhere. Earlier than that, my then-BF and i shared the necklace pictured above. Neither the friendship nor the necklace have survived.
We still sold these when I worked in a costume jewellery shop here in Germany. They were quite popular with the wee girls, say around 12. We also had cooler versions, like 2 chains with a small and a big guitar ^^
Early 90’s definitely. My elementary school best buddy and I had them (ours was two halves of a peace sign). Then she moved away. She didn’t write. CURSE OF THE NECKLACES!
I have one of these, and I’m 13. It’s shaped like a guitar. Mine says Best and my BFF has Friends. I like it better than the hearts, cause Guitars R Me. Pianos R Her, though. She got upset that I didn’t get a piano one. But we’re still friends. No Necklace Curse. Yet.
I’m not sure if I would want the “BE FRI” half or the “ST ENDS” half…
I want to get one of these and share it with my sister. Obviously, we’d both fight over the “Be fri” half. XD
Ah yes. My BFF and I had almost the same one, more sparkly though. My nickname was Befri and hers was Stends.
I remember ordering one of these for a friend’s sister out of the Johnson Smith Company catalog some time in the early to mid-90s.
I remember these…One of my former friends and I actually had mood-necklace ones. Each necklace had a full star, with one star having ‘best’ and the other ‘friends’ on it. We had thought they were ‘cooler’ than the half-heart simple-charm ones.
I had one of these in 1962 … from my first high school boy friend. It was silver and small, and I think I probably still have it in my old jewelry box with the charm bracelets and peace signs! I doubt he has his half … but thanks to the internet I am emailing he and his family and we are good friends!
I had such a bling and still kepp it until today. That was at the early nineties. Only few years laters thhis thing was replaced by a “boyfriend”-bling
These types of necklaces are still famous among the youngster. And I think these necklaces going to remain in trend forever.
Ahh, yes, the early 90s. Had several of these in a complicated swap among a group of friends, worn on a sleeper earring and necklaces with other charms like peace signs and friendship pins, as was the style at the time.
were did you get this
My first girlfriend in high school got me this. I lost it the next day. Kinda brings back bittersweet memories.
Mid to late eighties my neighbours had them. I remember feeling left out because there was no boys equivalent.
Ah yes these were popular……. never
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