The safety pin: what do we know about it?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

It is hardly possible to find a house in our time that would not have this ingenious device. It's hard to believe, but once a small safety pin could change the world. And we say this without any exaggeration. Today, this unique item is used not only for its intended purpose, but also as a stylish accessory.

What does a safety pin look like

In order to avoid confusion and uncertainty, we will immediately describe its appearance. Of course, it is difficult to assume that someone has not seen it yet, but who knows … So, a safety pin has the shape of a metal needle fastened to a rod and closed with a special cap. This simple item is intended for fastening or pinning pieces of clothing, or pieces of fabric.

Invention Story

Do you know that the name "safety pin" has taken root only in Russia? In all other countries it is called safe (safety pin). Curiously, differentdevices that look very similar to the pin we are used to were used by the peoples of the Black Sea region three thousand years ago. Also among the predecessors of the safety pin is the ancient Roman fibula, which is a metal clasp that was worn as an ornament. However, in its familiar modern form, the safety pin was born thanks to the American engineer W alter Hunt. It happened in the summer of 1849.

Here, perhaps, the reader will be surprised: how did it happen that the inventor is an American, and the pin is called English? Like many other inventions, this item was born by chance. Once an American, W alter Hunt, owed his friend $15. Money was tight, and, trying to find a way to repay the debt, he nervously twisted a piece of wire that fell into his hands. It took about three hours, and in the hands of Hunt turned out to be a kind of current safety pin. W alter suddenly realized that if a “lock” was attached to the most popular metal product of all time in the form of a loop with a needle, in which it would be possible to hide the sharp end, then in this case the owner of the pin could be sure that he would not lose it. After seeing this invention, the lender not only forgave Hunt's debt, but also paid $400 for the assignment of the right to obtain a patent.

This comrade was none other than Charles Rowley, a citizen of Great Britain. The perspicacious Englishman did not really believe that a patent in the States in the 19th century would be able to protect his rights, and therefore decided to register it in his homeland. And so the name for the novelty was born - "Englishpin", although it would be fair to call it "American".

Stylish accessory

While superstitious people wear this item exclusively "from the evil eye", representatives of various subcultures use it as a fashionable decoration. A safety pin with a spiral can be part of a badge or, for example, a brooch. Informals began to use this role most actively in this role after the middle of the twentieth century, and everything began, as the legend says, with Richard Hell, who at that time played the role of the lead singer in the group Richard Hell & The Voidoids. At first, they were simply pinned to clothes and specially torn jeans were fastened with their help. But as time went by, the safety pin caught on with rebellious designers like Vivienne Westwood, John Richmond and Alexander McQueen and made it onto the runway.