The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-22
PINS AND THEIR MAKING.
An INDUSTRY OF DIRECT INTEREST
TO EVERY WOMAN.

Less than n hundred years ago pins we're a
luxury in the greater part OF this country they
were almost unknown In the South and West,
where thorns and wooden pins were used to
fasten articles of apparel together. From all
accounts. in colonial times In the New England
States. the women folks weren't the pin keep
ers In a family as they are to-day. for more
than one Daughter OF the Revolution, In look
ing Ut her ancestry. has found that her
Observation-Disclosures or his uncle or
cousin was reported to be a wealthy
man at his death on account OF the great num-
Der of pins he left. II these early settlers could
SEQ a fashionable. up-to-date woman's maid
take a hundred or two pins out Of her mlstress's
evening costume or reception gown and reck-
lessly toss them on the tables and floors and
into the scrap baskets. or Just anywhere.
they'd turn over in their graves. II they could
talk they'd probably exclaim: rs IL possible
that our descendants have degenerated into
human pincushions2 ?"
AS clothes grow more complex woman re-
quires more pins OF every kind. and she
clamors for perfection in them. Every woman
30 years old can remember distinctly when she
required only common pins and ordinary
safety pins. and tho manufacturer did not
attempt to do more than comply with her de-
mnnds. To-day competition Is so great In the
pin business that the manufacturers are jab-
bling and sticking and thrusting pins in inf
mite variety at her.
Every now and then some crank tries TO tell
what becomes OF all the lost pins and to calcu-
late how many are lost and where. It's a deal
more interesting to learn where pins OF one
sort and another come from, and an lnvesti-
gator along this line can be much more sure Of
the accuracy of his information. A commits
sion merchant who deals In pins. when asked
about their manufacture. the profits and vol
1900 - NLA l.,-s. --l ~ l.
the different kinds OF pins, said:
We'll. take the common. ordinary pin first Of
all. All Of the leading brands except one are
made in this country, and that is an English
product. Women are queer folks. The pins
made in America are absolutely as good as any
English pin ever made. Why shouldn't this be
SOP Americans see the point Of everything
quicker than Englishmen do. Should pins be
an exception ? However. this special brand of
English pins has a tremendous sale in this
country, simply because it was introduced and
marketed before our manufacturers did their
best work, when we had n way of thinking that
everything Of English make was better than
the same or even a better thing made at home. |
There are about a dozen manufactures Of |
pins in the United States. Most Of them are In
New England. but there is a very large factory |
IN Detroit. Each manufacturer makes one-half
dozen or more grades or brands. Goods known
as class A are the best. They are made OF the
heaviest brass wire and do not rust. Then all
manufacturers make what are known as ada
mantine pins. which are of iron wire stlvered. |
OF brass. These are likely not
only to rust. but to bend. and one may
be sure that care, is taken not 70 sell them to
the %scacoast trade, for n merchants entire
Pins belonging to the classes A., p and G. ali
brass pins silvered. go to the finer trade. while
these adamantine, pins go to the peddler-sup.
MY nnnnln Ennh brand nDnn tn. rna Inlf
dozen sizes and the better grades are put up
$50, pins to a paper and twelve papers in a
The manufacturers nor their agents are
not allowed to sell less than a case Of any one
improvement has been made in common pins
In the last two or three years. for the best
s s5ayS ard Fa more q tire eeTieIG!'9 pnt MARI mn fr theG Yea, BH ut
year. Pins have been put UP in various ways.
They've been put up in small cushions for
whit, for the bureau or dressing tab'e.
and banks in bulk and sold by the pound. The
of black pins is very, limited, for people in
rue. and they are not made in this country.
but are imported from France aud Germany.
French article being far SUPERIOR"
factories 2" asked the interviewer.
-o rT aT PR pin , maSehiRS is q very d9o perfect m6 + ma hine%
require hundreds Of girls and men. 1t was
Mrs. Browning. l think, who said in hor, Au-
i'lu l'lEI N'ilitNIl'ilS ub'ul S'Ntll Ilfn i'lllE |
by hand in this country I expect that
people would be required TO turn out ali the
pins that our complex civilization demands to-
folded by machinery. There are patents t
on all these processes"
H., When Y was va ii the s., first pin factory established
The Howe COMPANY established the first
? j If faG 4fsyoi n Derby bSt: Con H. in 1875. and it
company was the first manufactures in the
E%r!d (, e MAKE solid headed pins. AGP9ther
Pin Company. but its promoters. got rather
linched for money and sold their, entire
},nHt Z f the Ms Am pSt + a rin Gj0mP Pm w of Water tFeso
,cople got hold OF the plant; They. knowing the
traits Of the owners. laid $4,000 in gold on
desk before the manufacturer and his wife.
md this was more than they could withstand
\ their necessity; tie transaction vas made
American companies worked together many
sSps,t bit on I]aGft soGc thefs o two old firms have
There have certainly been improvements
n the safety pin ?" said the reporter
There are also about haIfa dozen monufa1-
urers Of safety pins, and they turn out pins of
h e TO- Aye a sizes as n a rnle; , All are made m
iCce and so bent az to form a guard to lock the !
the point Of the pin instead Of the or
rally known as the silyered shield pin. Another
radc. still more durable and one that will not
arnish. is nickelled instead Of silvered.
nd The best grade. which will eventually drive
HELD so constructed that the point Of the pin
an be put in or taken out of the shield from
ither side, an advantage any woman Is quick
? see; All manufacturers are now making I
lese double shield pins, and competition has ,
rought the price down So very low that thero =
no great difference between the cost of the 1
ouble action and the old style single shield. 8
This is not true OF h%airpins. however. The n
est grades are not interfering with the de- 7
land for the lower grades. Hairpins are made l
9th here and abroad. and the cheaper ones c
re made OF iron wire. straight or crimped. ard
rdinarily are OF three sizes. This wire is ia :,
AIMED, and the pins put, up in papers. These II
apcrs in turn are packed In packages and the
ncknGes in barrels. and they go to the peddlcr n
apply stores and Cheap joint stores in that y
Many of the cheapest grades are not sold
less than barrel lots.
" A better wire hairpin is put up in a fancy Q
lrned wooden cabinet or paper box, and n o
oxen of these are packed in n carton. These are "
Did by tho gross. When one stops to think a
nat one OF these wooden cabinets OF hairpins g
IN he bought for from 4 to X cents by a Gus y
'mer at a retail store, and that four profits !
ave been made Oh il whom the customer gets i
4. doesn't that speak volumes? If | could u