By the nineteenth century, women were eager to free themselves of bonnet strings, and declare their right for equality with men. As women?s hats evolved, they employed ribbons and strings tied under the chin to hold them. Hatpins were developed in response to the dictates of fashion as women dawned big hair and fanciful headgear replacing the more functional bonnet used by their predecessors. Created to secure the headgear, hatpins made their first popular appearance in the 19th century and soon became a universal fashion statement.
Hatpin production began as a cottage industry, frequently employing an entire family. Production was time consuming, and resulted in low output. With their rapidly expanding popularity, large quantities of pins were needed causing a supply shortage. British merchants began importing from France to bolster supply, causing a trade imbalance. Parliament passed an act restricting the sale of pins to two days a year, the first and second of January. Women of that era would save money all year long to purchase pins in January. This could be the source of the term "pin money", however Queen Victoria also taxed her subjects at the beginning of each year to pay for her pins, another possible origin of the term "pin money".
With the U.S, invention and distribution of the pin-making machine, hatpins were widely manufactured by the late 19th century. Hatpins range in size from 4 to 12 inches depending on the size of hat to be secured, and were often used in conjunction with other hatpins as were required. Hat Pins remained fashionable until the 1920?s after which time hat fashions became smaller and hairstyles shorter, a result of newfound independence.
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