During this period the pins were made with two coils of wire fastened at one end of a length of wire, the other end of which was sharpened. First a wire, somewhat finer than that which was to be used for the pin, was coiled around a spit on a lathe. This was cut up into sections, each consisting of two turns. These coils were then annealed or softened and placed in a heap. Boys stuck the ends of the pins, which had been cut to the proper length, into this pile until a coil stuck. A workman pressed this coil in a die to make it hold to the pin. The head was then soldered and the other end of the pin filed and sharpened. Finally the pin was straightened and blanched or whitened. In the United States the colonists early felt the need of local production. The colonial legislature of Carolina offered prizes in 1775 for the first native-made pins and needles. The first American pins were made in Rhode Island, during the Revolution, by Jeremiah Wilkinson. About the same time, Samuel Slocum made pins in Providence. These were handmade with twisted wire heads. [Illustration: A VIEW OF THE PIN MACHINE ROOM IN A MODERN PINMAKING PLANT There are many types of pin machines which make anywhere from ninety to three hundred pins a minute, depending on the quality of the pin made.] Pinmaking machines were first invented in the United States. During the War of 1812, the industry was started because of the difficulty of getting pins from England, where most of them were made. The industry was not successful, however, till 1836, when the Howe Manufacturing Company was formed at Birmingham, Conn. It is a curious coincident that the first successful American pin manufacturing company, making the new machine-made pins, should be established in the Connecticut town of the same name as the English city which had been the center of pinmaking for nearly two hundred years. In 1817 a paper was filed at the patent office by Seth Hunt, describing a machine for making pins with “head, shaft, and point in one entire piece.” This machine, however, did not come into use. Lemuel W. Wright, of New Hampshire, secured, in 1824, an English patent for a machine for making solid-headed pins. This was the beginning of the present industry. A factory equipped with Wright’s machines was established in London, but was not successful. Daniel Foot-Taylen, of Birmingham, purchased this equipment and secured an extension of Wright’s patents for five years from 1838. He carried the production of machine-made pins to a commercial basis. Wright’s machines, however, did not complete all operations. Dr. John Neland Howe, a physician of Bellevue Hospital, New York City, formed a company in 1832 for the manufacture of pins. This concern was not successful, but in 1835 a second company was formed by Dr. Howe, who had great faith in the future of the industry. Nine years later, Samuel Slocum, of Connecticut, invented a new machine for sticking the pins on papers.