I was reading an article recently about Madeleine Albright, the former U.S. secretary of state, and her new book “Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box.” It talked about how she used her trademark brooches as a symbol of her work. She once wore a snake pin to a meeting with Saddam Hussein, who had called her an “unparalled serpent.” She wore it to let him know that she was no pushover.
Too bad she didn’t wear a hatpin with a serpent head. Both the head and the long 10-inch stem would’ve sent double messages.
I don’t subscribe to hatpins as weapons, but they do make a statement. I love hatpins and I buy them as often as I can at auction. But I find that I’m always outbidded by someone else – usually another woman – who loves them just as much as I do. I did manage to snag a group of about 10 hatpins once – with heads of onyx beads to rhinestones to brass. Some with long stems and others with short stems (these were likely stick pins). They were not as fancy as some of the ones I’ve seen on the web, including at The American Hatpin Society site.
A group of hatpins with heads of colored stones, brass or silver atop long stems protruding out of a holder is as beautiful as a bouquet of flowers. In fact, they remind you of a bouquet. I don’t wear hats, so I have to find other ways to enjoy them. With hatpins, you can be as creative as you want, using them as accents in your home or on your clothing or to actually dress up a hat.
Like just about everything else, hatpins have their share of collectors, their own organization and a long history. Hatpins originated in the 1850s as a way for women to secure their straw hats, according to The Collectors Weekly. They became very popular between the 1890s and 1920s, when such actresses as Lillian Russell and Lillian Langtray wore them on large fancy hats, the weekly said.
The Collectors Weekly also has a 2008 interview with hatpin collector Jodi Lenocker, an expert on the subject. She talks about the history of hatpins, what she collects and how long she’s been collecting, noted hatpin manufacturers, marked and unmarked hatpins and what’s the best ones to collect.
Vintage and antique hatpins are eagerly sought by collectors, but buyers are warned to look for fakes. The hatpin society site offers tips on what to look for if you want to start collecting.
I believe the hatpins I bought at auction were vintage. I doubt if they were antiques. It doesn’t matter, though, because I’m not a collector. I’m someone who simply enjoys the artistry.
By the way, more than 200 of Albright’s pins are on exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York through Jan. 31. 
