The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1896-05-30
THE AGE OF PINS.

Pins are, as the saying goes, as old as the
hills. In some form or another they have
been in existence ever since our first parents
clothed themselves in fig leaves, which grew
wild in the Garden of Eden. AS a matter
of fact, pins claim very high antiquity,
the earliest form being the natural thorn,
which is still used to some extent by the
present Upper Egypt. In prehistoric times
pins were also made of small bones of fish
and animals.
Among the remains of the lake jewellers
of Europe have been found bronze pins and
bronze brooches, in which the pins form the
prominent feature, many of which are
highly ornameDted and very beautiful. \
few copper and one iron pin have also been
found. 1t is estimated that 1000 pins
have been collected at the lacustrine station
in Switzerland alone. A few OF these pins
have double stems, and were probably used
as harpins. Three have been found at
Peschiera, which are exactly the same in
form as the safety pin of the present time.
Among the single-stem pins are many in
genious devices for preventing the spike
from passing entirely through the cloth or
other material it is used for fastening to-
gether. Many of them are so formed that
they are thicker in some places than in
others. A large number, both OF bronze
and bone, have the head formed by loose
ring passed through an eye in the pin. A
few heads have been discovered, while in
ancient Rome bronze pins and bone hair
pins with ornamental heads, have been
discovered among the relics of Pompeii.
In England the ordinary domestic pin
had become in the fifteenth century an
article of sufficient importance to warrant
legislative notice. An act of Parliament
passed in 1883 prohibited the importation
of pins. AS a necessity OF the toilet pins
were introduced into England in the latter
part of the fifteenth century by Catharine
Howard, queen OF Henry VIII, who re-
ceived them from France
Very good pins were made at this period
OF Drass, but large portion of them were
made of iron, which were banched and sold
for brass pins. In order to prevent this inn
position upon the good people of England,
Parliament in 1913, passed an act providing
that :" no person shall put to sale any pins
but such as double-headed and have tn"
heads soldered fast to the shanEs OF pins,
well smoothed the shanks well shapen, the
point we'll rounded, fled canted and sharp
ened."
England depended upon France for its
supply of pins until 1926, when John Til
soy introduced the manufacture in Gloucrs-
tershire. His business grew to such an
extent that it is said he gave employment
to l, 800 persons; at any rate, his pins,
Stroud pins, as they were called, gained IL
high reputation. In 1876 the manufacture
was introduced into Bristol and Birming-
han, the latter place ultimately becoming
the great cente. OF the industry.
Pins in America made their first appear =
ance during the last century. In 100 a
prize was offered to the colonists of Caro-.
lima who introduced the first native pins
and needles During the war of lsl2,
when, owing to the restrictions upon com
merce, the price of pins rose to 81 per paper,
the manufacture was actually started in the
United States. but does not seem to have
met with success, as the enterprise was soon
abandoned. The industry was not fairly
started in this country until the year 1886
The early pins in this country were made
with globular heads of fine twisted wire,
made separately and secured to the shank
by compression from falling block and
die. These old pins had the misfortune of
often parting with their heads. 1t was to
overcome this difficulty that the attention
OF the early inventors was directed. The
soid-head pin in common use to-day took
the place of the old form about 1910.
Before the introduction of machinery,
pins were made by manual labor in such
way as to require their passage through
the hands of fourteen different persons be-
fore completion. By machinery in use at
the present time it is estimated that 100
pins are turned out per minute. In Eng
land $4,000, 900 pins are made daily, of
which 100000 are made in Birmingham
alone. Connecticut is the principal center
of industry in the United States