Monday 13 June 2016

Pinteresting

In these feminist days, nobody talks about 'Pin Money' any more. PIN MONEY was money allowed by a man to his wife to spend for her own personal comforts. 
I discovered some fascinating facts about ancient laws relating to pin money
  • When pin money is given to, but not spent by the wife, on his death it belongs to his estate.
  • In the French law the term Epingles, pins, is used to designate the present which is sometimes given by the purchaser of lands to the wife or daughters of the seller to induce them to consent to the sale.
  • In England it was once adjudged that a promise to a wife, by the purchaser, that if she would not hinder the bargain for the sale of the husband's lands, he would give her ten pounds, was valid.
  • It has been conjectured that the term pin money, has been applied to signify the provision for a married woman,  because anciently there was a tax laid for providing the Queen with pins. 

Then I looked deeper into the history of pin manufacturer. Since their ancient beginnings, human beings have devised methods for securing cloth together. Prehistoric people used thorns as pins. The use of iron wire began as early as the fifteenth century in France. Descriptions of a tailor's equipment from Spanish books dating back to this period included the mention of pins. A "paper of pins" became a familiar cultural phrase, signifying the possessions of the simplest nature.

At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, economist Adam Smith employed the imagery of a pin factory as the perfect example of the intricate division of labour. In his book, Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, Smith described how one worker drew out the wire, another straightened it, a third cut the wire, the fourth sharpened one end, and another worker ground the opposite end for the attachment of the head. At the end of the process, the pins were polished and inserted into paper packets. These early pin factories produced just under 5,000 pins per day. Such a factory was Taylers in Birmingham.
Attaching the heads presented a particular challenge. In the mid-1800s, British inventors Lemuel Wright and Daniel Foote-Taylor patented machines that produced pins with a solid head from a single piece of wire. By 1900 they were churning out 12 million pins a day! D F Tayler's company joined with Newey's haberdashery supplies just after WW2 
All through my childhood, I watched my grandmother sewing, and she kept her pins in a little blue tin. Made by  D F Tayler, it was part of their 'Dorcas' range. Nana explained about Dorcas, who used her sewing gifts to bless other people [Acts 9] This lady [also known as Tabitha] became one of my heroines.
By the time I started dressmaking properly at secondary school, I just bought a 'paper of pins' from Woolworths. I always wanted- but never owned, a proper Dorcas tin.
I did get some Dorcas pins later- but by then they were in a tacky plastic container, which soon cracked.
On Saturday I was helping Jim's cleaner to get his place ready for Sunday's birthday visitors when I found a Dorcas tin, with 3 curtain hooks in it. "Ooh, my gran had one of these, I have always wanted one for my dressmaking pins"  
Later on Jim came round - and insisted I have the tin - he was really pleased to think I would be able to use it for its original purpose. 
I am one very happy little dressmaker! Thank you Jim - I shall treasure this.

11 comments:

  1. Ooh, you lucky lady! My Mother had one of those tins and the indentation in the lid was so useful when sewing - better even than a pin cushion.

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    1. Bob suggested putting a small magnet under the lid - but it worked too well and it was hard to pick the pins up.

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  2. That little tin deserves to be well used, I love bright shiny new pins. I usually buy the ones with flat flower heads in bright colours so that I do not miss one and sew over it.

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    1. I sometimes forget, and iron over the plastic heads and melt them! But I do use them for pinning knitted stuff together

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  3. I have a very old and battered tin too.

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  4. What a wonderful gift, and What a pretty tin. Its shape (with the depression in the lid) is very interesting.

    Where I live, the Amish women use pins to fasten their clothing.

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    1. In the film 'Witness' I recall that they tell Harrison Ford that buttons are a sign of pride.

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  5. So glad that you now have the right container for your pins! It's such a pretty tin, too.

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  6. I remember the Dorcas tin - nana & mum had one - but I never associated it with the Biblical Dorcas!
    I worked with someone who insisted that her job was only for "pin money" & that every woman should have a "running away fund" in case she ever needed to do so. She certainly thought that mortgages that were based on both the woman and man's salary was A Bad Thing. One should never rely on two salaries, she used to say!!

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    Replies
    1. I knew someone 30 years ago, who always kept £100 in a "running-away fund". I am not sure how far she would get with that now!

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  7. I keep my pins in a red Dorcas tin which was given to me by a much older lady some thirty years ago : )

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