What is this prop?

[T'Girl]

In another thread concerning This Side of Paradise, a image of the medal that Kirk was looking at in the episode was shown (Timo found it). I was wondering where the medal came from. The props department could have made it, either for Star Trek, or for another production and then reused it for Star Trek. Or it could be a real world medal from somewhere.

On close-up, it pretty nice looking, with a raised figurine, holding a disc or hoop. Anybody know?

Also, any idea which of Kirk's many medal is this supposed to represent?

 

[C.E. Evans]

According to Memory Alpha, it's the Starfleet Medal of Honor

 

[The Castellan]

She means what is the man on the meal holding it his hands over his head. It looks like, to me, like a planet or a moon or something.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Well, she also asked which of Kirk's medals it was.

 

[Gary7]

It looks like some kind of athletic medal of the time, perhaps Olympic in nature, as I'd say the figure is holding a wreath like object. I definitely don't think it was made for the episode or for any kind of standard Starfleet medal, as it would never be given enough screen time to be visible. What you're seeing here is the product of computer processed remastering to provide more clarity than what would ever have been visible in the original broadcasts and VHS tapes.

 

[Timo]

Palm Leaf of Axanar, obviously! It's just that since all palms are extinct by the time, people no longer quite remember that they weren't customarily woven into laurels, and the two symbolic floral arrangements have become sort of mixed in lore.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[sojourner]

angel with wings holding a halo.

 

[T'Girl]

I was just kind of wondering if it was someone's old High School gymnastics award. Or did props make it from scratch.

 

[Christopher]

It's most likely that the medal was just some generic medal from the Desilu prop department. Movie and TV studios keep all sorts of props, costumes, and the like on hand for recycling in various productions. That's the whole reason TOS had so many "parallel Earth" episodes -- as an excuse to save money by reusing period props, costumes, and set components from the studio warehouses rather than having to make everything from scratch.

So they wouldn't have spent the money to make a medal from scratch unless it were something very episode-specific and unusual, like something with clearly seen alien writing on it. Given how generic (and American-looking) this medal is, it's surely just a pre-existing prop. If you searched through other Desilu or Paramount productions, or shows from other studios that rented Desilu's facilities, you might find the same medal in other places.

(This is a widespread practice. The Saurian brandy decanter from TOS showed up a couple of times in Mission: Impossible, once in a scene where it was right next to Leonard Nimoy. And in another M:I episode I saw a statue of two men wrestling which I'm pretty sure is the same prop that TNG's art department modified two decades later into Worf's statue of Kahless and Morath.)

 

[Therin of Andor]

they wouldn't have spent the money to make a medal from scratch unless it were something very episode-specific and unusual...

Like the IDIC controversy.


Trek or treat by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

 

[Green Shirt]

Given how generic (and American-looking) this medal is, it's surely just a pre-existing prop.

Could be possibly French in origin, since Picard stated in The Last Outpost that the French flag uses the three colors in the "proper" order of blue, white and red.

 

[Christopher]

^But if they'd put it in the box with the ribbon folded/flipped over the other way, it'd be red, white, and blue. Like I said, it's probably just a TV prop that was designed to be as generic as possible so that it could be used in multiple productions.

 

[Green Shirt]

^ Yeah, it was a two sided medal and the "American Side" was facing up during filming which makes my idea totally wrong.

Man, am I stupid.

 

[Nerys Myk]

^ Yeah, it was a two sided medal and the "American Side" was facing up during filming which makes my idea totally wrong.

Man, am I stupid.

He specified the ribbon. And was referring to the possible real world origins. Seems less likely that a French Award would be found in the warehouse of an American studio.

 

[Green Shirt]

^ Yeah, it was a two sided medal and the "American Side" was facing up during filming which makes my idea totally wrong.

Man, am I stupid.

He specified the ribbon. And was referring to the possible real world origins. Seems less likely that a French Award would be found in the warehouse of an American studio.

I don't understand the reason for your post. I specified the ribbon also. And I was also referring to real world origins. A French Award ending up in the warehouse of an American studio is not outside the realm of possibility. I just threw that out there as an idea for discussion, not to attack someone's thoughts. I'll leave that for those with superior intellects.

 

[Christopher]

^Again, my point is that it's probably not a real medal and never was. If it were real, there would probably be some kind of inscription on the face of the medal. Most likely it was built specifically as a prop for some earlier TV show or movie and then got used by later productions that needed a "medal" prop, including "This Side of Paradise."

 

[scotpens]

. . . The Saurian brandy decanter from TOS showed up a couple of times in Mission: Impossible, once in a scene where it was right next to Leonard Nimoy.

Which, as most of us Trek geeks know, was actually a special edition George Dickel Sour Mash Whiskey bottle.

 

[J.T.B.]

^Again, my point is that it's probably not a real medal and never was. If it were real, there would probably be some kind of inscription on the face of the medal. Most likely it was built specifically as a prop for some earlier TV show or movie and then got used by later productions that needed a "medal" prop, including "This Side of Paradise."

I don't even think it was built, it looks like a generic sports/athletic medal from a trophy shop. The winged goddess Nike holding up the laurel wreath to crown the victor is a pretty common motif for that sort of thing. Red-white-blue neck ribbons are still very common in the US for that sort of thing, too.

Justin

 

[Christopher]

^That makes sense. Didn't occur to me there were trophy shops, but now that I think about it, I guess trophies have to come from somewhere. And it would be the kind of place where a prop department would obtain props.

 

[22 Stars]

There is a great trophy shop here on Broadway in my neighborhood. Many of the local shops are frequented by theater productions etc. The one I am thinking of is right down the block from the show Wicked, and across the street from an old-time shoe repair shop that does work for theatrical productions as well.