Submitted by the staff of the Orillia Museum of Art & History (OMAH)
Anyone who has ever worn a hat knows that it can be a task to keep the hat atop one’s head.
Today most hats have fallen out of fashion, though 100 years ago, no respectable person would dare to leave their front door without a hat. From about 1880 to 1920, fashion trends were changing quickly. Hats were growing more and more elaborate, and since women were aspiring to have long locks, it was the trend to pile one’s hair in a loose updo.
Due to these fashion trends, hats were becoming more difficult to keep steady. For women, that daily ritual of placing a hat atop their hair would be completed with a hatpin. These pins were long, sharp pieces of metal which could be pierced through the side of a hat and buried through the hair underneath to secure the hat.
Hatpins were created out of necessity and served their purpose very well. But with any invention, there are always improvements. In the height of the hatpin, they became a collector’s item. Ladies would have a small collection of hatpins which could be matched to their outfit or the season.
While they were a relatively innocent accessory, women inadvertently created a secondary use for them. During this time, it was becoming increasingly common that women were in public unaccompanied, or without a man present.
Apparently, men saw this cultural change as an opportunity to confront women, often with unrespectable purposes in mind. Women began to use their hatpins to their advantage, pulling them loose from their hats, and stabbing their aggressor.
This weapon was so dangerous, lethal even, that legislation popped up around the world, regulating the length of hatpins, and going as far as to require a cap on the end of the pin while riding public transportation.
There is even mention of hatpins in Bill 258, passed by the Ontario Legislature in 2021, proclaiming Jan. 7 as Battle of the Hatpins Day. This commemorates the events of 1916, when Francophone mothers armed with household items, including hatpins, defended French-language education at Ottawa’s Guigues School against enforcement officers.
Next week we will feature another object from the OMAH collection that showcases our local history.
