I don't think I've ever written about my collection of antique ladies' hatpins before.
Never heard of hatpins? Back in the days when ladies had elaborate hairstyles and even more elaborate hats (from about the 1880s into the 1920s), they needed a way to keep their hats on their heads, and they used long metal pins with decorative tops, stuck through different places in the hat and throught their elegant coiffures, to keep the hats from falling or blowing off. Now, these are highly collectible and getting more and more hard to find.
I first became aware of and interested in collecting hatpins back in my late 20s. There is a really nice antiques fair held annually near my hometown, and each year I would see the woman I call The Hatpin Lady because this is a major part of what she sells (www.antiqueconnection.com to see what shows she'll be attending this year) and her display table is full of thousands of pins and holders, all organized by colors and themes. It's so amazing that I wish I had a photo of it. Each collection looks like a little bouquet.
Last weekend, Georges and I happened upon a very nice brocante (that's an antique show usually with professional dealers, as opposed to a vide grenier which is more a neighborhood "yard" sale) in the 17th near the Parc Batignolles. We aren't in the market for any big purchases, nor do we have room for anything in our already over-full small apartment, but we ended up going hunting for two things: hat pins for me, and an antique crucifix for Le Garçon, who has been taking catchechism classes and will have his baptême in a few weeks. And turns out we found both!
Hat pins can range in prices from very cheap (which means they are either fake antiques, meaning not antique at all and probably made last week; or they are in very poor condition or not very pretty) to very expensive, costing hundreds of dollars or euros and usually having something very special about them: a rare design, made by a designer such as Tiffany, solid gold, real gemstones, and so on. Of course, you can sometimes find a deal on a really great hatpin if it is being sold by an antique dealer who doesn't specialize in them and who therefore doesn't really know what's he's selling - I've found one or two like this over the years. When you buy from someone like The Hat Pin Lady, you won't get a bargain but you will usually get a quality piece, and no fakes (or else she'll disclose if it's not really old).
Because I don't have the means to splurge on pins costing hundreds, I tend to be extremely selective, and when I stumble on some hat pins at an antique show or shop, I look for something that is different from everything else I already have, something unusual or very pretty. So now I have quite a lovely and diverse small collection that was very easy for me to transport to France (wrapped securely in my checked luggage, as I am certain a hat pin would be verboten in one's carry-on luggage these days).
I only own one hat pin holder, made of ceramic or porcelain, that my mother found for me at an antique sale while she was in Florida on a vacation, years ago when I first became interested in pins. So my mother really started me on my collection. She got me one old pin and one new one; after I expanded the collection myself, I got rid of the new one because it stood out too much from the others. But I love the holder she chose, and now it's nearly full:
I only have two or three spots left, and then I'll need to find a second pin holder! But as it has taken me about 25 years to collect 10 pins, I don't think there is any rush to find another holder.
Let me show you the pins, up close and personal:
The greenish one on the left was the first antique pin that my mother bought for me when she found the china holder. The seashell one is not the most elegantly made pin I've ever seen, but it is a real shell and is old, and I love the beach so I decided to buy it. I think I may have bought that one from The Hatpin Lady.
The image is a bit fuzzy but these are two I like: one with my initial "L" in brass, and the other a cloisonné enameled top with a bunch of graps (I like wine!)
This one is Sterling silver (and needs a good polishing!) and it's the longest of all the pins I own. It would make a good weapon in a pinch; in fact, the Suffragettes used to use them as weapons against the police when they were marching for Votes for Women! By the way, you can often find very nice Sterling silver hat pins, and they are less costly than anything in solid gold, so if you're collecting on a budget, keep that in mind. Do look for a silver mark, either it should say Sterling or 92.5 somewhere on the head of the pin.
This is one of my absolute favorites, as well as one of my best buys ever: I found it in a small antique shop in Flemington, NJ, and got it for only $25.00 from a guy who clearly had no clue about hatpins. The red and green paint is worn off part of the rose and it's a bit dented, but it is still beautiful and can you imagine how decorative it would have looked in a ladies hat?
These are some of the very feminine pins I've collected. The one on the left is made of pink Depression glass had has a dancing Muse stamped in it. The one in the middle is a small rose in amethyst glass -- the first pin I found here in Paris out at the Marché aux Puces, and one of Georges' first gifts to me so therefore very special. It is the most petite in the collection but sets it off beautifully. And the right-hand one is made of some sort of pink shell and I just like the way it looked.
And finally, the one I found this week at the brocante. He wanted 60€ and I got it for 50, and I think that was fair. All the rhinestones seem to be in place and I loved the effect of the small ball dangling off the larger one; it would have been gorgeous pinned into a big hat at night for a fancy party!
Don't these pins make you wish that big hats were back in fashion again?
If you are interested in collecting, a word or two of advice about spotting the fakes. Often you will see old metal pins but where the soldering of the top to the pin looks fresh or shiny; that's probably a fake. Old pins are going to LOOK old; they aren't going to look like they were just made yesterday. Check the general condition, and if your gut instinct is telling you that something is "off", then don't waste your money. Sometimes, a pin in imperfect condition can still be a great find (like my rose) so you should look for pins that "speak" to you, and create your own beautiful and unique "bouquet". They look lovely displayed on a dresser or shelf, and don't take up much space although they will require dusting.
If you can't find a good holder right away, look for a small bud vase in which to display them; it will work just as well.
Happy collecting!
PS You can find all sorts of books on hat pins and collecting them, just search on Amazon or check your local book store. It's amazing how many different designs are out there, both for pins and their holders, so do a bit of homework, then start looking around at local antique shops and fairs. You never know what you might find.
