Why are pincushions frequently made to resemble tomatoes?
The tomato pincushion has become an icon representing sewing today.
TOMATO PINCUSHIONS HAVE BEEN POPULAR FOR YEARS
The "Best Tip" in Threads issue #160 (April/May 2012) features the use of a standard tomato pincushion (and a permanent marker) to organize your machine-needles. Knowing which needle is in which sewing machine or serger is just an added benefit to trying out this technique. The tomato pincushion lends itself beautifully to this tip, but as I read the tip, I couldn't help wondering how the tomato pincushion came to be. My grandmother and mother both had tomato pincushions, and I have several. I did plenty of research on this subject and found some interesting information.
A LITTLE BIT OF PINCUSHION HISTORY
In the years 1300 through 1400 metal pins were costly, and as you would imagine, not as readily available as they are today. They were usually stored in special needle/pin cases made from ivory, bone, silver or other metals. In the early 1700's pin-pillows came into use--the predecessor of the pincushion of today. They were beautifully made from fine fabrics and often delicately embroidered. Soon the pin pillows became mounted on a silver, china, or wooden stand or base. In many cases the pincushion was actually used more as a home décor item than a sewing tool. During the early 1900's pincushions became more common as a useful, functional sewing aid.
THE TOMATO EVOLVES
I also learned that during the Victorian Era, folklore suggests that when a family moved into a new home, a fresh tomato was placed on the mantle to ward off evil spirits and thus bring prosperity to the new homeowners. Since tomatoes were only available in certain seasons and didn't stay fresh forever, the good-luck symbol was frequently fashioned from fabric instead--stuffed with sand or sawdust and made to look like the real thing with embellishments such as leaves and veins. I can imagine how easily the tomato graduated from a "tchotchke" to something more useful. Whenever I find straight pins or needles lying around my home, I poke them into my quilted toaster cover until I'm able to bring them upstairs to my sewing room. If I had a stuffed tomato on my mantle, I'm sure I'd use that instead! Perhaps even the "voodoo" nature of the tomato encouraged people to poke pins into it.
Do you have a tomato pincushion? Does your mother? Your grandmother? Have you heard other "folklore" stories about the origins of the tomato? If so, share them with us in the comments.
April M. Mohr, contributor Posted on Feb 28th, 2012 in sewing, tools & supplies, notion, pincushion, tomato
Comments (20)
It may have been a keepsake from her wedding dress. My aunt made one for each of daughter from remnants of the wedding dress she also made for each of them. I made my own wedding dress, and plan to use the (now 40 year old) remnants to make the ring pillow for each of my daughters - you have given me the idea to make them a little smaller so it might become pin cushions instead of being hidden away in a chest or trunk!
Posted: 2:29 pm on March 10th
Posted: 10:09 am on March 9th
The greater the wealth and skill of the milliner, the more opulent the toolkit, and as she sat in the great plate window of her shop working on an amazing piece of couture millinery, people might gather to watch her work as her chatelaine, her badge of office, lay gracefully draped down the side of her skirts as she worked.
A common ornament among the bone or metal tools was -- more commonly than a tomato -- a small emery-filled strawberry to sharpen her pins and needles. Emery is usually the same corundum used to sharpen and hone knives and scissors, as a grit. It's mostly aluminum oxide crystal fragments.
Oddly, we get children's books about people watching steam shovels from the fine ages of millinery coming down to us, because a steam shovel was amazing at that time -- a milliner was, you should pardon the phrase, "old hat."
But millinery was the breakthrough trade for independent women in New England and many other places, and was the way a woman alone could make a respectable living as a businesswoman, an artisan, and managing others, well before that was acceptable in any other trade. Tailors all men, and dressmakers were rarely working for them at any design level, when fine millinery was acceptable women's work from every level including supply chain, business details and the lot.
I'm working on reviving and updating millinery craft/technology, which has been pretty sadly neglected. Maybe we can bring back the chatelaine too. It's a wonderful tradition, and some of the old chatelaines are stunning works of art, as well as the most amazing toolkits for sewing!
Posted: 12:11 am on March 9th
I am very impressed with the idea of the Tomatoe Pin Cushion
used for our Machine Needles. I am one person who changes my
sewing needle between starting and finishing my garment especially if I am embelishing with the sewing machine. I also
found the history of the Tomatoe Pin Cushion very interesting as it was something I didn't know or had heard of, looking forward to more hints or tips and history anedotes.
Posted: 4:55 pm on March 8th
Pins and needles were handmade until fairly recently, and were costly. a woman would be allowed to sell some farm and garden produce and keep the money for her own needs; hence "Pin Money".
http://www.forgemill.org.uk/
Liz.
Posted: 4:39 pm on March 8th
I have taught sewing in the public school system for over 50 years and am now teaching in my retirement. Each student comes with their red tomato each session, reminding me of my childhood sewing with Mother and Grandmother alike. Now you have given me a piece of History to share with my students, thank you so much.
Posted: 3:43 pm on March 8th
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Posted: 11:56 pm on March 1st
The strawberry traditionally is filled with steel filings so that you can stick your pins and needles in them from time to time to sharpen them, or to smooth off rough or rusty spots if they develop. To sharpen points, you stick them in and pull them out five or six times. To smooth a rough spot, stick the needle in the strawberry until the rough spot is firmly inside, then hold the berry tightly around the needle while you move the needle back and forth inside. It works like a champ!
Filled with sawdust, a pincushion has enough heft to stay in one place. It doesn't seem to me that one filled with polyester would have enough weight to stay put. I know that my cats would be playing with it on the floor in no time.
Posted: 10:31 pm on February 29th
Her tomatoes always seemed bigger than my current tomato, but maybe that was my child's perspective.
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