#2: Safety Pins (1849)
Walter Hunt’s 1849 safety pin combined several useful ideas into one brilliantly economical piece of wire: a sharp point, a spring-producing coil, and a clasp that shields the point after fastening. Most importantly, the fundamental arrangement remains recognizable in safety pins sold today. Earlier cultures had used fibulae and other pin-like clothing fasteners for centuries, but Hunt’s design created the familiar modern object that could be manufactured cheaply and used repeatedly. The coil provides enough tension to keep the point secured, while the clasp protects both the wearer and the fabric from accidental contact with the sharp end. There is no complicated mechanism to maintain and virtually nothing to learn before using one. Safety pins have consequently moved far beyond emergency clothing repairs, appearing in sewing kits, first-aid supplies, crafts, fashion, and countless improvised household solutions. Materials and manufacturing methods have improved, but placing a nineteenth-century example beside a modern one reveals an extraordinary degree of continuity.
