Archaeological finds testify to the ancient origin of the needle. The first needles were made from fish bones. The earliest metal needles in Europe dating back to the 3rd century BC were found in Bavaria. The eye of the needle of that time, as well as for many centuries later, was a ring of a bent blunt end. Starting from the 12th century in Europe, the technology of wire drawing began to be used for the manufacture of needles, which significantly increased their production. The invention of Damascus steel in the second half of the 14th century contributed to the improvement in the quality of needles. The most important milestone in the history of this instrument was the creation in 1850 in England of a machine tool that allows not only stamping needles, but also making an eyelet in them. The scale of mechanized production of needles has made the country a monopoly in the production of this product. The use of a new needle, which did not deform, did not break, did not rust, was well polished, contributed to the improvement of sewing skills.

In the XVII century, from Germany to the Russian lands were brought steel needles Hanseatic merchants, and before that bone, bronze, iron and silver were used. Russia began its industrial production of needles. This was facilitated by the decree of Peter I, which spoke about the construction of factories for the manufacture of needles. Factories were built in the Ryazan region, in the villages of Kolentsy and Stolbtsy, by merchants Sidor Tomilin and the Ryumin brothers. In Kolentsy, the needle factory consisted of four departments: needle, wire, pin and machine. Up to 1200 pounds of steel wire per year were delivered from England - for the best needles, and for simple ones - from the Istinsky plant. Peter I issued a decree "On duties on foreign needles" in order to protect domestic production. Ryazan factories produced over 32 million needles and pins per year, which met the needs of the domestic market and exported to other countries.
The image of the needle is one of the most mythologized in folk culture. The symbolism of the needle is based on its inherent properties of sharpness, small size, and the ability to penetrate objects. It was also important for the mythopoetic consciousness that the metal from which the needles were made had an underground, that is, otherworldly nature - this determined the magical functions of the needle. So, she was considered a powerful amulet, which was used in dangerous situations: at the birth of a child, at a wedding, funeral, during illness, in rituals with cattle. From the evil eye or damage, for example, a needle was stuck into the child's robe. In the hem of the bride's dress and in the chest area, new unused needles, specially purchased for the wedding, were stuck crosswise with the point up. Needles were sometimes placed in the coffin of a dead woman so that she would have something to sew in the next world. In the Russian North, a needle without an eye was stuck into the yoke of a horse carrying the deceased to church - so that it would not stumble. The needle was often used in medical practice as a subject for slander. The image of a girl sewing up a wound with a needle is stable in conspiracies to stop the blood. On the day of the first pasture, a needle was attached to the tail or horns of the cow so that no one could damage it.

At the same time, the needle could be dangerous: it became an instrument of damage if a slander was made on it. According to the ideas Eastern Slavs, sorcerers knew how to turn around with a needle. These features explain the existing ban on picking up a needle found on the road. The time of using the needle for sewing in traditional culture was strictly regulated. The prohibition not only to sew, but also to look at the needle extended, for example, to the feast of the Annunciation, associated with the beginning of a new stage in life - the awakening of nature. Violation of the ban threatened with fright or a snake bite in the forest. In this belief, the correlation between the images of a snake and a needle is based on their common features: the brilliance of the surface, the sharpness of the tip of the needle and the sting of the snake, and chthonic origin. The last sign of the needle was significant in Christmas divination: the girl threw the needle into the millstones and, turning them, tried to hear the prediction in the sounds that arose from the contact of the needle with metal parts. In Siberia, they guessed in a different way: they tried to thread the thinnest needle - luck on the first attempt promised marriage.

The first iron needles were found at Manching in Bavaria and date back to the 3rd century BC. It is possible, however, that these were "imported" samples. The ear (holes) were not yet known at that time and they simply bent the blunt tip with a small ring. AT ancient states they also knew an iron needle, and in ancient Egypt already in the 5th century BC. embroidery was actively used.
Needles found on site ancient egypt, in appearance practically do not differ from modern ones. The first steel needle was found in China; it dates back to about the 10th century AD. It is believed that needles were brought to Europe around the 8th century AD. Moorish tribes who lived in the territories of modern Morocco and Algeria. According to other sources, Arab merchants did this in the 14th century. In any case, steel needles were known there much earlier than in Europe. With the invention of Damascus steel, needles began to be made from it. It happened in 1370. In that year, the first guild society appeared in Europe, specializing in needles and other garments. There was still no eye in those needles. And they were made exclusively by hand by forging.

Starting from the 12th century, the method of drawing wire using a special drawing plate became known in Europe, and needles began to be made on a much larger scale. (More precisely, the method existed for a long time, since ancient times, but then it was safely forgotten). Appearance needle has improved a lot. Nuremberg (Germany) became the center of the needle craft. A revolution in needlework took place in the 16th century, when the wire drawing method was mechanized using a hydraulic motor invented in Germany. The main production was concentrated in Germany, in Nuremberg and in Spain. "Spanish peaks" - the needles were called at that time - were even exported. Later - in 1556 - England intercepted the baton with its industrial revolution, and the main production was concentrated there. Prior to this, needles were very expensive, rarely any master had more than two needles. Now the prices for them have become more acceptable.

Interesting fact, in 1850, the British came up with special needle machines that allow us to make an eye familiar to us in a needle. England comes out on top in the world in the production of needles, becomes a monopolist and for a very long time has been a supplier of this necessary product to all countries. Prior to this, needles with varying degrees of mechanization were cut from wire, while the English machine not only stamped needles, but also made the ears itself. The British quickly realized that good quality needles that do not deform, do not break, do not rust, are well polished, are highly valued, and this product is a win-win. The whole world understood what a convenient steel needle is, which does not touch the fabric with its handicraft eyelet in the form of a loop.

By the way, the first steel needles appeared in Russia only in the 17th century, although the age of the bone needles found on the territory of Russia (the village of Kostenki, Voronezh region) is determined by experts at about: 40 thousand years. Older than a Cro-Magnon thimble!

Steel needles were brought from Germany by Hanseatic merchants. Prior to that, bronze needles were used in Russia, later iron needles, for rich customers they were forged from silver (gold, by the way, did not take root anywhere for making needles - the metal is too soft, bends and breaks). In Tver already in the 16th century there was the production of the so-called "Tver needles", thick and thin, which successfully competed on Russian market with needles from Lithuania. They were sold by the thousands in Tver and other cities. "However, even in such a major metalworking center as Novgorod, in the 80s of the 16th century there were only seven needle-makers and one pin-maker:" writes the historian E.I. Zaozerskaya.

Own industrial production of needles in Russia began with light hand Peter I. In 1717, he issued a decree on the construction of two needle factories in the villages of Stolbtsy and Kolentsy on the Pron River (modern Ryazan region). They were built by the merchant brothers Ryumin and their "colleague" Sidor Tomilin. Russia by that time did not have its own labor market, as it was an agrarian country, so there was a catastrophic shortage of workers. Peter gave permission to hire them "where they will find and at what price they will want." By 1720, 124 students were recruited, mostly townspeople from craft and trading families in the suburbs of Moscow. Study and work were so hard that hardly anyone could stand it.

There is one amazing Buddhist ceremony in Japan called "Broken Needle Festival". The festival has been held throughout Japan for over a thousand years on December 8th. Previously, only tailors took part in it, today - anyone who knows how to sew. A special tomb is built for needles, in which scissors and thimbles are placed. In the center they put a bowl with tofu, ritual bean curd, and in it - all the needles that have broken or bent behind last year. After that, one of the seamstresses says a special prayer of gratitude to the needles for their good service. Then the tofu with needles is wrapped in paper and lowered into the sea.

However, it would be wrong to think that needles are only for sewing. About some - etching - we told at the beginning. But there are also gramophone (more precisely, there were) ones that made it possible to "remove" sound from the grooves of the record: There are needle bearings as a kind of roller bearings. In the 19th century, there was even the so-called "needle gun". When the trigger was pulled, a special needle pierced the paper bottom of the cartridge and ignited shock squad capsule. The "needle gun", however, did not last very long and was supplanted by the rifle.

But the most common "non-sewing" needles are medical needles. Although why not sewing? The surgeon just sews them. Only not fabric, but people. God forbid we get to know these needles in practice, but in theory. In theory, this is interesting.

To begin with, needles in medicine were used only for injection, from about 1670. However, the syringe in the modern sense of the word appeared only in 1853. It's too late, considering that the French mathematician, physicist and philosopher Blaise Pascal invented the prototype of the syringe already in 1648. But then the world did not accept his invention. What for? What microbes? What injections? Devilry and nothing more.

The injection needle is a hollow stainless steel tube with a cut under acute angle end. Everyone gave injections to us, so everyone remembers the not very pleasant sensations from "acquaintance" with such a needle. Now you can not be afraid of injections, because. there are already painless microneedles that do not affect the nerve endings. Such a needle, according to doctors, is not something you can find in a haystack, but even on a smooth table.

A needle in the form of a hollow tube is used, by the way, not only for injections, but also for sucking gases and liquids, for example, from the chest cavity in case of inflammation.

Surgeons use "sewing" medical needles for sewing together ("darning" in their professional slang) tissues and organs. These needles are not straight, as we are used to, but curved. Depending on the purpose, they are semicircular, trihedral, semi-oval. At the end, a split eyelet is usually made for the thread, the surface of the needle is chrome-plated or nickel-plated so that the needle does not rust. An interesting fact is that there are also platinum surgical needles. Ophthalmic (eye) needles, with which operations are performed, for example, on the cornea of ​​​​the eye, have a thickness of a fraction of a millimeter. It is clear that such a needle can only be used with a microscope.

It is impossible not to mention one more medical needle - for acupuncture. In China, this method of treatment was known even before our era. The meaning of acupuncture is to determine the point on the human body, which, according to the projection, is "responsible" for one or another organ. At any point (and about 660 of them are known), the specialist inserts a special needle up to twelve cm long and 0.3 to 0.45 mm thick. With this thickness, the acupuncture needle is not straight, but has a helical structure, which can only be felt by touch. The tip that remains "sticking out" ends with a kind of knob, so that such a needle resembles a pack of a pin, not a needle.

If there was a patent office in the Stone Age and primitive brought there an application for a sewing tool, which said that "a needle is a pointed needle for sewing with an eye at the end", all the inventors over the next millennia could not add anything, the needle is so perfect. Perhaps not a single tool of labor has passed so unchanged through the entire history of mankind. A fish bone, at the blunt end of which a hole is made - that's the whole invention. But the same "bone", only made of metal, we use today. Some time after the creation of the bone needle (it is very fragile!) they began to look for a replacement for it. Thorn spikes went into action, then needles began to be made of bronze and iron. Steel in Europe appeared in the 14th century, when they learned the secret of durable Damascus steel. At first, they didn’t know how to make an ear - they simply bent the blunt tip. The appearance of the drawing board greatly facilitated the manufacture of needles and improved their appearance.

The steel needle was brought to Russia in the 17th century from Germany by Hanseatic merchants. And soon Russian craftsmen mastered the art of its manufacture. Of course, even earlier Russia knew needles - they were forged from bronze and iron, and for rich houses and palaces - silver. But still, the steel ones turned out to be the best.

From the hands of unknown craftswomen who held this simple sewing device, breathtaking outfits of fashionistas of all times and peoples, and the finest embroidered pictures, and icons embroidered with pearls and beads, and everyday clothes, and children's toys ...

Sometimes the needle acquired completely new “specialties” for it. So, in the 16th century, artists began to use it to create etchings. Etching is a type of engraving, the drawing of which is scratched on a metal board covered with a layer of varnish. After drawing the drawing, the board is immersed in acid, which corrodes the grooves left by the artist's hand. An engraving needle is very similar to a regular sewing needle, only the point is sharpened in the form of a cone, spatula, cylinder.

Perhaps this type of engraving was born due to the fact that the needle was in any house, always “at hand”. And the artist wanted to get copies of his works using paper and lithographic stone. But carving on a stone with a chisel is quite hard work. Here the needle and acid came in handy, which greatly facilitated and accelerated the matter.

The first etchings were created in Germany in the 16th century by Albrecht Dürer, D. Hopfer and other artists. In the 17th century, A. Van Dyck, A. van Ostade, X. Ribera and the greatest of the etchers, Rembrandt, created with the help of a needle. 17th century - works by J. B. Tiepolo, A. Watteau, F. Boucher, W. Hogarth, F. Goya. In Russia at this time, etching was also gaining ground: A.F. Zubov, M.F. Kazakov, V.I. Bazhenov and others worked with a needle. Luboks were often drawn with a needle, including folk pictures of the times Patriotic War 1812, illustrations for books, cartoons. And today this technique is alive, it is used by many contemporary artists.

The next "specialty" of the needle is medicine.

We have all had injections. At the same time, we experienced a not entirely pleasant encounter with a syringe needle. This is a stainless steel tube with a sharply cut end. Such a needle is used not only for the introduction of drugs, but also for the suction of liquids and gases (for example, from the chest cavity). Surgeons sew tissues and organs with special needles. Depending on the purpose, these needles are round, trihedral, oval. At the end, a split eye for the thread is usually made, the surface is chrome-plated or nickel-plated so that the needle does not rust. Eye (ophthalmological) needles, with which, for example, sew cuts of the cornea, have a thickness of fractions of a millimeter. You can use such a needle only with a microscope!

And acupuncture, known since ancient times? Special needles are inserted into strictly defined points on the human body (there are about 660 of them). They are from one and a half to twelve centimeters long, 0.3 - 0.45 millimeters thick.

But this does not exhaust the "track record" of our humble worker. When we put our favorite record on the turntable, we also use its services. It is also needed in the manufacture of carpets, non-woven textile materials (it is not by chance that one of the methods for obtaining them is called needle-punched).

If we look at the Dictionary of the Russian Language, then in addition to the meanings listed, we will find there that the word “needle” means leaves of coniferous trees, hard, prickly formations on the body of some animals (there is even a special type of marine invertebrates - echinoderms), hard pointed crystals (for example, the most common hoarfrost), as well as the sharp spire of the building (Pushkin has “a bright Admiralty needle”).

In the last century there was a so-called needle gun. When the trigger was released, the needle pierced the paper bottom of the cartridge and ignited the percussion cap. It was displaced by a rifle. There are needle bearings (a kind of roller bearings). In a word, it is difficult to even simply list all the spheres of the "activity" of the needle.

But back to our usual, well-known sewing needle. It turns out that making it is not at all an easy task. Only in a few countries of the world mass production of this most popular instrument has been established. A few kilograms of high-grade machine needles can cost more than a fine car!

For many women, a thimble is an indispensable companion for a hand sewing needle. There is a beautiful legend about its appearance... In the 17th century, goldsmith Nicolas Benchonten lived in Amsterdam, the capital of Holland. The young man, as expected, was in love. He liked Anita, the daughter of a stingy neighbor van Ranselier. The girl sat in front of the window all day and embroidered. Skillful hands of Anita, as if by magic, created fairy-tale castles on silk, unprecedented overseas plants, unprecedented birds. But a thin needle painfully pricked the finger of the craftswoman. And the heart of Nicolas, who saw this, bled every time. And then one fine day a servant brought a golden cap with small depressions on it to Anita's house. His purpose was clear. But the gift was kept by another secret meaning. Before that, the young man had never told Anita about love. However, the cap was made with such skill and diligence that she immediately guessed it...

Whether this was actually the case or otherwise, it is difficult to say. But the fact remains: in one of the archives of Amsterdam there is a message: “To the esteemed Madame van Ranselier, I bring as a gift a trinket of my invention and creation, so that it serves to protect her wonderful and hardworking fingers.” Signature: Nicolas Benchontin. The date of the message is 1640. Perhaps Benchonten reinvented this simple sewing device, since it is known that already in the Middle Ages there were craftsmen engaged in the manufacture of these gizmos. From those times, elegant masterpieces, decorated with enamel, inlay and engraving, have come down to us. And the oldest, by the way, are gold. Later they were made of gilded silver or bronze, but the color remained traditionally yellow. This had its own meaning: against this background, you can easily distinguish a silver-white needle.

In Russia, a metal cap for a finger appeared at the end of the 17th century and quickly gained popularity. By the way, the word "thimble" (as it came to be called) was not created especially for him. So for a long time in Russia they called lead weights for weighting the hand when hit in a fistfight.

How the name of a formidable and cruel weapon passed to a peaceful sewing device is still a mystery to philologists.

And by the way, why is a needle called a needle? Here is one version of the origin of its name. In ancient times, oxen were harnessed to a yoke, which was fixed with a thin wooden stick pointed at one end - a needle. Hence the name passed to our friend. The linguistic "relative" of the needle is the infamous word "yoke". The yoke and collar are words of Turkic origin. And the ancient Slavic name for this harness is the yoke. Among the people, the yoke and collar have always symbolized oppression, bondage. The saying “If there was a neck, there would be a collar” is not accidental. And therefore terrible years The invasions and dominions of the Golden Horde in Russia received their short and such a capacious name - the yoke.

It's amazing how many meanings and objects carry such a simple word - a needle!

Treasure seekers recently discovered a huge wooden chest with the inscription "San Fernando" on the coast of Florida under a thick layer of sand. Indeed, there was such a ship and it sank almost 250 years ago on the way from Mexico to Spain with solid booty on board: 150 million silver pesos. Treasure hunters fumbled over the castle for a long time, finally there was a long-awaited click, several trembling hands threw back the lid, and ... an ancient treasure appeared to greedy eyes: thousands, tens of thousands of sailor's needles for patching sails!

Our ancestors made needles from the bones of fish, animals, horns and Ivory. The story says that there were also stone needles, they looked more like an awl. The first steel needles were made by the Chinese. In our country, the needle appeared at the end of the 17th century when Peter I signed a decree on the import of a needle into the territory of the Russian Empire.
Sewing needles are produced at the needle-platinum production. Needles are available for both machine and hand sewing. Machine needles differ from hand needles in that there is a flask at the end of the needle.

There are several types of needles: shoe needles, knitting, household and industrial.

Large factories are great amount the names of the needles, and this also depends on the thickness, sharpness. Sewing needles are more popular, not a single sewing enterprise can do without them, but it is more difficult to make them. Each needle has grooves that make it easy to insert the needle into the sewing machine and thread the eye.

Looking at the needle, it's hard to believe that it takes about three months to make it. In order to start the work, first a wire is supplied from the factory, a special machine cuts it to a certain length and straightens it, then the future needles are rounded on both sides. Now you need to decide on the diameter and length, for this a piece of wire is taken and pulled out in a cold way, at this moment the piece is beveled into a cone. The next steps will be stamping and punching.
What does it mean?
On special machines, with the help of matrices, an eyelet is shaped, on which there is still a large number of burr that still needs to be sanded. Nothing left, harden the needle and leave. Needles are hardened in hardening furnaces, and after tempering they become strong and flexible.

The needle is almost ready, the point is being sharpened again. One of the important stages is the manufacture of the ear. Sometimes, to save money, the company works with low-alloy steel, which, after prolonged use, begins to rust, and in order to eliminate this, sometimes gilding, silver or other precious metals are sprayed onto the ear.

The last two operations remain, chrome plating and polishing, during chrome plating, the needle is covered with a chrome layer, and upon completion, the surface is carefully polished. Already finished needles are packed in blisters or other packaging, with the appropriate marking.

The pin has interesting story, it turns out in ancient times, ordinary thorns from bushes and trees were a replacement for a pin. The pin is made from the same material as the needle, only there are fewer stages in production.

The pin itself is made in such a way that a metal bar is stretched, forming a wire from it. Aligning, the wire is cut to the length of the pin itself. Then a metal head was attached to the segments. FROM the latest technologies, one needle-platinum enterprise produces not only pins and needles, but also knitting needles, knitting and fishing hooks, thimbles, and indispensable accessories for weaving and textile machines.

Video how needles and pins are made: