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PIN MAKING

Pin making was not indigenous to Birmingham but started in Gloucestershire, Samuel Ryland  brought the trade to the town in around 1750, setting up a small factory in his home in New Street.

In 1785 he handed the business to his nephew Thomas Phipson in whose family it continued.Both men women and children were employed in the industry and there were 12 to 14 processes involved

In 1824 an American called Wright took out a patent for a pin making machine. It was first used in London and Stroud and introduced to Birminghamin 1860. This was start of mechanization but pointing still had to be carried out by hand.Outworkers were paid to put pins on cards but eventually even this was done by machine.Hairpins were being made by automatic machines by 1905

Birmingham alliances were formed, co-opting firms agreed to open their books for inspection and accept fixed prices and theThe Trade Unions collaborated.The unions would call men out on strike if firms broke alliance agrreements and they would be paid out of a fund levied on employers. The first of these alliances  had been made with the brass bedstead workers in 1891 and in addition to pin workers wire rope and spring manufacturers and other users of drawn wire formed alliances. Eventually there were 5000 employers with 20,000 workers with alliances.

Early in the last century alliances broke down chiefly because higher prices attracted  newcomers into the industry causing excess production therefore prices were cut. Changes in fashion also had far reaching effects on the industry.Women's clothing became less elaborate and dressmakers needed fewer pins. Also hairstyles became bobbed and fewer hairpins were needed. Added pressure was put on the industry in 1920 when competion increased from abroad.