The needle is perhaps the oldest "tool" known to mankind. Just how the first garment was joined together is open to conjecture, however. During the Paleolithic Age (26,000 to 20,000 BC) the needle took form and in all probability was nothing more than a bone splinter sharpened at one end, undoubtedly with a flint, and interestingly in a triangular shape.
The first real needles didn't have an eye, just a slight groove that was formed in the shank to hold firm the "whipping," which fixed a leather thong to the needle. Later designs improved the method of "tying on the cotton." An angular slot was cut at the end of the needle, rather like a crochet hook, so that the leather strip could be hooked on and then pulled through a hole in the skin or cloth, previously made by the pointed bone splinter or flint.
An early bone needle
Final development of the needle came with the use of a flint boring tool. Ancient people drilled holes in the bone through which the sinew or fiber could be threaded. Some of these early needles had three or four holes of different sizes. A number of these "Stone Age" needles are in the British Museum and are examples of the earliest needles made.
A Roman Bronze needle
With the coming of the Bronze Age and the availability of material other than bone or ivory, it meant that a metal instrument, thinner and stronger, could be made. Then in about 100 BC came the Iron Age. There was little or no change in shape and pattern with this alternative metal, and it is ironic to realize that because of the perishable nature of iron, no examples of them remain, since they have all rusted away. In Greece, other needles have been unearthed, made in a sort of porcelain known as "faience," that are quite thick and crude. Early Egypt also provided many needles and pins as the garment became more than a rude cloak.
From the start of the first century, with the so-called Dark Ages, until 1370 AD, there are no records of needle making. In 1370, however, we find references to needle making from what is now known as Nuremberg, in Germany. However, England would soon make an important step in the production of the needle. In the mid-1500s, Mary I, wife of Philip II of Spain, encouraged a Spanish Moor to set up business in England. When the Moor died, however, so did his secret, because none of his workmen had been allowed to learn any of the processes. Elizabeth I, who followed Mary to the throne, realized the importance of this trade to be established in England, and thus persuaded other foreigners to settle. Many set up businesses in London, and their industry soon became established in some of the old buildings on London Bridge and the surrounding district. Production commenced and the sale of needles made in London spread until the import of needles from Germany, France and Spain ceased, and England became an exporter.
Many of the buildings unfortunately succumbed to the Great Fire of London in 1666. This caused an exodus of workers to outlying areas, where a cottage needle making industry soon boomed. In some of their own homes, wealthy Catholic landowners of the district housed lay brethren from a recently destroyed abbey to continue manufacturing needles. Each separate family, under the tuition of the monks, became experts in one of the many different operations required to make a needle, and with the absence of machinery, every needle was made by hand. Packets of partly-finished needles was passed on to the next family for them to perform the next operation.
Two steps in the needle making process:
Left -- The cutter cuts the appropriat length of needle.
Right -- The flatter forms the points and straightens the eyes.
With the advent of steam power, factories and mills were built and the entire production would now be undertaken under one roof. The Victorian Factory system had been created, and although some of the processes remained a home industry, the gradual, but total, manufacture had become a reality, and so it remains today with a touch or two of modernization, such as electric motors and modern, high-speed machinery.
We have come a long way from the bone splinter to the modern needle. It is, I suppose, correctly described as a tool or an implement -- we like to look on it as an instrument for the precision that has gone into its manufacture. So, when you go into your department store or little haberdashery shop in a market town, remember that you are buying the oldest tool known to mankind!
The first real needles didn't have an eye, just a slight groove that was formed in the shank to hold firm the "whipping," which fixed a leather thong to the needle. Later designs improved the method of "tying on the cotton." An angular slot was cut at the end of the needle, rather like a crochet hook, so that the leather strip could be hooked on and then pulled through a hole in the skin or cloth, previously made by the pointed bone splinter or flint.
An early bone needle
Final development of the needle came with the use of a flint boring tool. Ancient people drilled holes in the bone through which the sinew or fiber could be threaded. Some of these early needles had three or four holes of different sizes. A number of these "Stone Age" needles are in the British Museum and are examples of the earliest needles made.
A Roman Bronze needle
With the coming of the Bronze Age and the availability of material other than bone or ivory, it meant that a metal instrument, thinner and stronger, could be made. Then in about 100 BC came the Iron Age. There was little or no change in shape and pattern with this alternative metal, and it is ironic to realize that because of the perishable nature of iron, no examples of them remain, since they have all rusted away. In Greece, other needles have been unearthed, made in a sort of porcelain known as "faience," that are quite thick and crude. Early Egypt also provided many needles and pins as the garment became more than a rude cloak.
From the start of the first century, with the so-called Dark Ages, until 1370 AD, there are no records of needle making. In 1370, however, we find references to needle making from what is now known as Nuremberg, in Germany. However, England would soon make an important step in the production of the needle. In the mid-1500s, Mary I, wife of Philip II of Spain, encouraged a Spanish Moor to set up business in England. When the Moor died, however, so did his secret, because none of his workmen had been allowed to learn any of the processes. Elizabeth I, who followed Mary to the throne, realized the importance of this trade to be established in England, and thus persuaded other foreigners to settle. Many set up businesses in London, and their industry soon became established in some of the old buildings on London Bridge and the surrounding district. Production commenced and the sale of needles made in London spread until the import of needles from Germany, France and Spain ceased, and England became an exporter.
Many of the buildings unfortunately succumbed to the Great Fire of London in 1666. This caused an exodus of workers to outlying areas, where a cottage needle making industry soon boomed. In some of their own homes, wealthy Catholic landowners of the district housed lay brethren from a recently destroyed abbey to continue manufacturing needles. Each separate family, under the tuition of the monks, became experts in one of the many different operations required to make a needle, and with the absence of machinery, every needle was made by hand. Packets of partly-finished needles was passed on to the next family for them to perform the next operation.
Two steps in the needle making process:
Left -- The cutter cuts the appropriat length of needle.
Right -- The flatter forms the points and straightens the eyes.
With the advent of steam power, factories and mills were built and the entire production would now be undertaken under one roof. The Victorian Factory system had been created, and although some of the processes remained a home industry, the gradual, but total, manufacture had become a reality, and so it remains today with a touch or two of modernization, such as electric motors and modern, high-speed machinery.
We have come a long way from the bone splinter to the modern needle. It is, I suppose, correctly described as a tool or an implement -- we like to look on it as an instrument for the precision that has gone into its manufacture. So, when you go into your department store or little haberdashery shop in a market town, remember that you are buying the oldest tool known to mankind!