Safety pin
Walter Hunt’s pin of 1849 – a single bent wire with a spring and a guard for the point.
The New York inventor Walter Hunt patented the safety pin in 1849. Sprung pins existed in antiquity, but Hunt’s form with a guard for the point made it safe to use for clothes and nappies.
He sold the patent for a small sum. The safety pin has hardly changed since and in the 1970s became a symbol of punk.
Materials: Brass or steel, later nickel-plated
Manufacture: Bent from a single wire by machine; the guard was pressed from sheet metal.
A coil at one end that makes the pin springy.
A guard at the other end covering the point.
Brass on older pins, nickel-plated steel on newer ones.