Clothespins 'n' such

Reprint of the 1902 edition 
of the Sears, Roebuck Catalogue

"Who Made That Clothespin?"

In the New York Times "The survival of the spring-hinged clothespin into the modern era is an unlikely story of Darwinian selection. From 1852 to 1887, the U.S. patent office issued 146 separate patents for clothespins. The first design that resembles the modern clothespin was patented in 1853 by David M. Smith, a prolific Vermont inventor... Smith’s design was later improved by the 1887 patent of another Vermont inventor, Solon E. Moore, whose great contribution was the “coiled fulcrum,” made from a single wire, which joined the two grooved pieces of wood at the center of the clothespin. Moore’s version had the advantage of being both sturdy — it kept clothes securely on the line — and easy to manufacture."