Hat pin

Object NameHat pin

Mediummetal

ClassificationsJewelry, Eyeware and Watches

Credit LineGift of Elizabeth Windson, In the Farm House Museum Collection, Farm House Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object number84.21.14

Status

Not on view

Collections

Textiles and Jewelry

Label TextThe War On Hat Pins While they may look unassuming or purely decorative, hat pins were used for both fashion as well as protection in the Victorian Era. By 1880, the size of women’s hats was increasingly larger and larger and bonnets with strings became less popular. To keep these statement pieces secured to ladies’ heads, women would use hat pins, a thin metal stick usually with decoration on one end. Ranging from two to twelve inches long, hat pins were made for every occasion and every budget. At the Farm House Museum, the collection of hat pins come in a variety of styles and sizes. From the very practical and simple with a single pearl on the end, to painted flowers and intricate metal with semiprecious gemstones, these hat pins were made to match the woman’s outfit and occasion. They were an extension of jewelry women would wear. There is even one in the collection designed to look like a golf club! The popularization of hat pins also led decorative art manufacturers to create unique and ornamental hatpin holders in ceramic and glass to sit atop a women’s dresser. For many women though, hat pins were not merely a fashion statement. Around this time period, women were pushing for equal rights, especially when it came to suffrage. More and more women were out in public without the protection of their brothers, husbands or fathers. As women have always found a way to “make do” with what they had, hat pins began to be used as a way for women to protect themselves against unwanted male pursuance or attack. The use of hat pins as protection became so popular that self-defense articles in women’s magazines began detailing the best way to use them. Newspapers published stories of women using hat pins to fight back against their assailants. In 1909, the Seattle Star newspaper published a piece stating that the Oregon state legislature passed a law limiting the size of hat pins to ten inches. This fashionable statement of the time was now being considered a threat to public safety. Also in 1909 a bill was introduced in both the Illinois and the Arkansas legislature limiting the length of pins to 9 inches. As a result, women had to cut hair pins to a shorter length if they wanted to wear them in public. By the late 1920s, women’s hair became shorter and hat designs began to evolve as such that hatpins were no longer needed. Throughout history, underprivileged groups have found ways to use everyday objects to fight for their equality. In the early 1900s, women found a way to defend themselves in style using hat pins. By Sonya Harwood, Farm House Museum intern ('20 Anthropology)

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