The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1896-07-16
STORIES ABOUT PINS.
Their Antiquity, Manufacture and Wide
spread Use,

IneiT Antiquity MdnuIdCtuic d1H ViNo'
spread Use.
Pins. as the saying goes. are as old as
the hills In some form or other they
have been in existence ever since our
first parents clothed themselves in fig
leaves. which grew wild in the Garden
Of Eden. AS matter of fact, pms
claim very high antiquity, the earliest
form being the natural thorn, which
is still used to some extent by the pres
ent women of Upper Egypt. In prehls'
toric times pins were also made or
small bones of fish and animals.
Among the remains of the lake dwell
ers of Europe have been found bronze
pins and bronze brooches. in which the
pins form the prominent feature, many
of which are highly Ornamented and
very beautiful. 4 few copper and one
iron pin have also been found. 1t is
estimated that 10000 pins have been
collected at the Lacustrine station, in
Switzerland. alone. \ few of these
pins double stems, and were probably
used as hairpinS. Three have been
found at Peschera. which are exactly
the same in form as the safety pin OF
the present time Among the single
stem pins are many ingenious 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 \ large number, both
.T b1 hon
formed by loose ring passed through
an eye in the pin. \ few heads have
been discovered, while in ancient Rome
bronze pins and bone hairpins. with or
namental heads, have been discovered
among relics of Pompeii.
In England, the ordinary domes-
tic pin had become in the tif-
teenth century an article of sufficient
Importance to warrant legislative no
tice. An act of Parliament passed in
1913 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 Cath
arine Howard. Queen of Henry WILL,
who received them from France, says
the st. Louis Republic"
Very good pins We're made at TINS
period of brass. but a large portion OF
them were made of iron. when Were
blanched and sold for brass pins I'D
order to prevent this lWpositioh upo.
the good people OF England, Parlia-
ment, in 1913, passed an act. providing
that no person shall put on sale any
pins but such as shall be double hea ded
and have the heads soldered fast to the
shankS OF the pins. we'll smoothed, the
shanks well shapen, the point well
rounded. filed. canted and sharpened."
England depended upon France for
its supply of pins until 1926, when John
TilSby introduced the manufacture in
Worcestershire. His business grew to
such an extent that it is said he gave
employment to 1900 persons; at any
rate, his pins, Stroud pins, as they were
called, gained a high reputation. Id
1886 the manufacture was introduced
into Bristol and Birmingham, the latter
place ultimately becoming the great
center of the industry.
Pins in America made their first ap-
pearancc during the last century. In
l775 prize was offered to the colonists
of Carolina, who introduced the hrst
native pins and needles. During the
war of 1872 when, owing to the restric-
| tions upon commerce, 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 1896.