Why aren safety pins as safe as they say they are?
Liam is on to it…safety pins are like “safety razors”, or the old-school name for disposable razors. Safety razors are safer than the original alternative, which was a straight razor. You can’t cut your own throat (or anyone else’s) with a Bic disposable razor. That still doesn’t mean you can’t cut yourself shaving. Same deal with safety pins. The enclosed clasp made them *safer* than the original diaper pins that didn’t have them, or even the straight sewing pins that were originally used to hold things *like* cloth diapers in place. That still doesn’t mean you can’t stick yourself with them. “Safety” in this case is a bit of an archaic leftover from the 1920s and 1930s back when both safety pins and safety razors came into broad use–it just means it’s *safer* than the original version that it would in time replace. I hope this helps.
