Pin is a short, pointed piece of metal. Pins are used mainly to hold two or more pieces of material together. People also wear pins as jewelry.
There are many kinds of pins. The most common types are straight pins and safety pins. These pins are usually made of steel or brass. Straight pins have a flat head at one end and a point at the other end. Straight pins are used primarily by seamstresses and tailors to fasten patterns to fabrics and to hold layers together before they are sewn. Safety pins have an oval shape. The point of the pin snaps into a protective guard to prevent the pin from falling out of the fabric and to avoid injuries. Safety pins are used mainly as temporary fasteners.
Pins were one of the earliest types of jewelry. People began wearing pins at least 20,000 years ago. Prehistoric people made pins from splinters of bones, wood, and thorns. Later pins were formed out of iron and bronze. The ancient Greeks and Romans used pins called fibulae, which resembled modern safety pins, to hold their garments together. Through the years, various types of decorative pins have been developed. For example, large ornamental pins called brooches were popular in the 1800’s. At that time, women wore them at the center of the bust, but today people use them to adorn their coat lapels. Straight pins known as stickpins were originally used in the 1800’s and early 1900’s to hold men’s ties and cravats in place. Today, these pins, which have gems, initials, or emblems of organizations at the top, are worn as accessories on scarfs and lapels.
Pins were handmade until the early 1830’s. In 1832, the American inventor John Ireland Howe patented one of the first practical machines for manufacturing pins. In 1849, Walter Hunt, another American inventor, patented a design that served as the basis for modern safety pins.
See also Hunt, Walter .
