The Demo Site

Curvy pins have been used for over four thousand years. Originally, they were fashioned out of iron and bone by the Sumerians and were used to hold clothes together. Later, these pins were also used to hold pages together by threading the needle through their top corner.

Many late pins were made of brass, a hard metal. Steel was used later, as it was much stronger, but there was no easy process to keep steel from rusting, so higher quality pins were plated with nickel, but the metal would start to break down and flake off in high humidity, allowing rust to form. Steel pins were not that inconvenient for homemaking uses as they were usually only used temporarily while sewing garments.(wikipedia)