Safety Pin Patented
Little helper was created in a few hours in rather extreme conditions. Hunt urgently needed to pay the debt of $15, and had no money. After thinking a couple of hours, he made a sketch of unpretentious wire fastener. Hunt's pin was made from one piece of wire, which was coiled into a spring at one end and a separate clasp and point at the other end, allowing the point of the wire to be forced by the spring into the clasp. The man immediately sold the rights to his invention for $ 400.
Hunt's idea was not new since a safety pin was invented long before him. Similar products were used by many ancient and medieval peoples (Greeks and Romans, Illyrians and Celts, Germans, Slavs and others) as a fastener for cloaks and other types of clothing. Later on these pins were ousted by buttons.
After its revival in the 19th century this accessory became an indispensable in the housekeeping. Women used it in needlework and fastened children’s cloth diapers.
In the 70s pin turned into one of the punk subculture attributes and became a symbol of youth protest against the traditional foundations of society. Punks wore them not only on the clothes, but also poked their faces and bodies. The first who began to misuse pin was Richard Hell the leader of band called Richard Hell & The Voidoids. Further on Hell’s image influenced style of punk band Sex Pistols, and in particular its leader Johnny Rotten, who used to wear tattered and dirty clothes, combed his hair up in a mess and completed his look with pins.
