Hatpins as Self Defense Weapon for Women

"Really, Captain Jinks, I don't see why women should not bear arms as well as men."

"It isn't necessary. Every woman has two or three hatpins."

- Caption from a May 1900 cartoon from the newspaper "The Evening Democrat".

Between 1880 and 1910 many women in Western culture wore hats in public. It was considered immodest to NOT wear a hat in public. Due to the changing fashion styles of the time it became customary to have a 10 to 14 inch long hatpin which they could use to pin their hat into their hair bun.

However as women are often the subject of physical attacks by men, and certainly not about to take such attacks laying down, the hat pin quickly doubled as impromptu weapon with which they could defend themselves and others.

So much so that by 1910 some places were passing laws banning the use of hatpins.