Safety pin

Safety Pin

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Safety pin

A safety pin is a simple fastening device, a variation of the regular pin

Pin (device)

A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together. It is usually made of steel, or on occasion copper or brass. It is formed by drawing out a thin wire, sharpening the tip, and adding a head....
which includes a simple spring

Spring (device)

A spring is an Elasticity object used to store mechanical energy. Springs are usually made out of hardened steel. Small springs can be wound from pre-hardened stock, while larger ones are made from annealing steel and hardened after fabrication....
mechanism and a clasp. The clasp serves two purposes: to form a closed loop thereby properly fastening the pin to whatever it is applied to, and to cover the end of the pin to protect the user from the sharp point.

Safety pins are commonly used to fasten pieces of fabric

Textile

A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by Spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands known as yarn....
or clothing together.

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Encyclopedia

A safety pin is a simple fastening device, a variation of the regular pin

Pin (device)

Spring (device)

Textile

Diaper

A diaper or nappy is a sponge-like garment which people wear who are incapable of controlling their Urinary bladder or bowel movements, or are unable or unwilling to use a toilet....
s (nappies), as the safety clasp prevents the baby from being jabbed. Similarly, they can be used to patch torn or damaged clothing. Safety pins can also be used as an accessory or jewellery, such as earrings, chains, and wristbands. Additionally, if the case should arise, the safety pin can be used as a weapon

Weapon

A weapon is a tool used to apply or threaten to apply force for the purpose of hunting, attack or defense in combat, subduing enemy personnel, or to destroy enemy weapons, equipment and defensive structures....
or a means to inflict pain

Pain

Pain, in the sense of physical pain, is a typical sensory experience that may be described as the unpleasant awareness of a noxious stimulus or bodily harm....
.

Origin

The origin of the safety pin dates back to the Mycenaeans

Mycenaean Greece

Mycenaean Greece is a cultural period of ancient Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece....
during the 14th century BC (Late Mycenaean III era). They are known as fibulae (singular fibula) and were used in the same manner as modern day safety pins. In fact, the very first fibulae of the 14th and 13th centuries B.C. looked remarkably like the safety pin. The origin of the fibulae is detailed in Chr. Blinkenberg's 1926 book Fibules grecques et orientales.

The safety pin was reinvented by American inventor Walter Hunt

Walter Hunt

Walter Hunt was an United States of America mechanic. He lived and worked in New York. Through the course of his work he became renowned for being a prolific inventor, notably of the sewing machine , safety pin , a forerunner of the Winchester repeating rifle, a successful flax spinner, knife sharpener, streetcar bell , hard-coal-burning st...
, and patented in April, 1849. The right

Right

Rights are legal or moral entitlements or permissions. Rights are of vital importance in theories of justice and deontology.Many contemporary notions of rights are Universality and egalitarianism, with equal rights granted to all people....
s to the invention were sold for $400.

Culture

During emergence of Punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock....
in the late seventies, safety pins became associated with the genre, its followers and fashion

Punk fashion

Punk fashion is the styles of clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and body modifications of the punk subculture. Punk fashion varies widely from Vivienne Westwood styles to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited....
. Some claim the look was taken originally from Richard Hell

Richard Hell

Richard Hell is an United States singer, songwriter, bass guitarist, and writer.Hell is probably best known as frontman for the early punk rock band Richard Hell & The Voidoids....
whom the British punks saw in pictures, and whose style they adopted. This is disputed by a number of artists from the first wave of British punks, most notably Johnny Rotten, who insists that safety pins were originally incorporated for more practical reasons, for example, to remedy "the arse of your pants falling out". British punk fans, after seeing the clothing worn by such punk forerunners, then incorporated safety pins into their own wardrobe as clothing decoration or as piercings, shifting the purpose of the pins from practicality to fashion. The safety pin subsequently has become an image associated with Punk rock by media and pop-culture outlets.

Safety pin

Origin

Culture

See also

External links