Ribbon Fob. A ribbon folded over with a pendant medallion a short length in front with a longer length in the back, both approximately the same width. Intended to be used like a watch fob, ribbon fobs were largely ceremonial (since they did not wear as well as leather strap fobs); they were, however, an ideal gift to a male college student. Jewelry houses in America offered them with the pendant medal containing the stock seal of any one perhaps forty different universities. Their use declined in the 1930s with the rise of the use of wrist watches over pocket watches. See fob.