Friday Fact: The Push Pin

It was the year 1900, when the American Dream was still crisp and freshly laundered.

Mr. Edwin Moore, with $112.60 in his pocket, founded a new company.

Mr. Edwin Moore himself

He rented a room, and – devoting each of his afternoons and evenings to the enterprise – invented the push pin.

Edwin described the push pin simply as, “a pin with a handle.” I don’t think even he understood the versatility and coolness of what he had invented. Each morning, he would go out and sell what he had made the night before. His first sale – one gross of the little guys – earned him a whopping $2.00. But Edwin had invented a good thing, and it didn’t take long for people to fall in love with the little pins with personality. His first “big deal” was a sale of $1,000 worth of push pins to the Eastman Kodak Company.

“Well,” thought Edwin. “I guess it’s time to advertise.”

In 1903, his first national advertisement appeared in “The Ladies’ Home Journal”. Obviously, things took off (is there anyone out there who doesn’t know what a push pin is?), and Edwin got busy and invented and patented other little items, such as picture hangers and map tacks.

Today, the Moore Push Pin Company is still exclusively devoted to the manufacturing and packaging of “little things”.

Moore's little invention has come a long way. They're not just functional, anymore. They're stylish and creative.

Look at these beauties:

Push pins can look like something else entirely:

they can warn...
They can evolve:They can remind...

They can (with a lot of patience) be a work of art.

I think I speak for all of us when I say, thank you, Mr. Moore, for your invention. Our tiny notes are more secure; and so, Mr. Moore, are we.