Bobbypins

www.saimanexports.com- Our LEADER DX hairgrips

History of the humble Bobbypin

What is a Bobbypin?

A bobby pin is a type of hairpin, usually of metal or plastic, used in coiffure to hold hair in place. In England, it is known as a hair grip, grip, or kirby grip. It is a small pin or clip, and typically plain and unobtrusively colored, but some are elaborately decorated or jeweled. A bobby pin is a double-pronged hair pin that slides into hair with the prongs open and then the flexible prongs close over the hair to hold it in place. Bobby pins became popular in the 1920s to hold the new bobbed hairstyles. The bobbed hairstyles, needed clusters of hair to be held in place, for the style to look its part. That's where they say the term Bobbypin, got its beginning.

Various companies in the 1920's, like P&G and Kirby, Beard and Co. have had their fair share of court cases, for infringement. But, now its no longer a valid trademark, due to its world wide use and application!

Other uses:
Apart from being a hair accessory, people have found ingenious ways of using the bobbypin in different ways:

1. In Africa, broken parts of sandals are held together with bobbypins! Really.... Sandals???..... Yes, its unbelievable, but True!
2. Jews use bobby pins to hold head coverings, such as a [yarmulke], securely to their hair. (Wikipedia)
3. Bobbypins have been used to pick locks as well :-)
4. Many women, of all ages, ofcourse, still use bobbypins, as bookmarks, while reading!

But the way bobbypins are made still remain the same and the materials used are still the same.
Bobbypins are made from spring steel wire, which is a more tensile kind of steel wire, thus helping in retaining its recoil action after the user opens it to put in her hair!
The Humble bobbypin has gone through a metamorphosis of sorts in the manufacturing process. From the hand press machines of yore, to the now fully automatic drawing and forming machines, bobbypins are now being formed in various shapes and and sizes, to suit and also complement hairstyles of today's women.

Saiman's history in the Indian Hairpin Industry:

We are a third generation manufacturing company, specializing in and ONLY in the manufacturing of the BOBBYPIN.

Like the product itself, our beginnings were fairly humble as well, when my grandfather, Mr. Kantilal Botadkar, in 1945 started making these bobbypins with hand press machines, where the entire process of drawing the wire and forming the pin was done by hand. No machines, just plain hand power!

He then slowly expanded by buying second hand imported Heidelberg machines, and thats when our growth started. Since the product was fairly necessary, demand was never an issue. By 1965, we had a full fledged mechanized plant with 8 machines and producing about 200 kgs of hairpins a day. 

Sadly, in 1969, our patriach, Dada, as he was fondly known, left us due to illness.  

My father, Mr. C.K. Botadkar (Nanubhai to the business fraternity) had taken over the helm at our factory in Mumbai, after which he expanded the operations to another manufacturing in central Mumbai in Prabhadevi. This is our current operational facility. In addition, he also added another plant in GIDC in Gujarat at Navsari. He decided to expand Saiman's product portfolio by adding a manufacturing unit for safety pins- another generic but a very necessary product!

By the 1980's, Saiman had well established brands and unique packaged products. At the helm of this was LEADER, a price sensitive product for the price sensitive woman. We still have a strong foothold in the "affordable" category after 35 years of starting the brand. Apart from this, we have devised various packaging modes like the small plastic cases, called "Dubbies" in India. Pins packed in these miniature cases, are easy to carry in purses and remain intact. SHAIFALI and TIPSY are our main brands in this category.
By the 1990's, India was going through a phase of export- oriented growth and Saiman clinched its first export client in the U.K. Obvoiusly, our website www.bobbypinsindia.com also has been in existence since a few years now!
We are now a fully integrated company with the strengths of our home grown brands in the Indian market, coupled with our core competency of manufacturing, aiding us to become a quality bespoke Private Label manufacturer in the Hair Sundries market of Europe. We can take pride in having kept a very stable and enabling relation with our customers. Being a family-owned business, helped us inculcate a habit of nurturing our clients' brands like our own and that has always given us an edge.

Reasons for writing this blog:

As the title of this blog suggests, I want to create awareness among people that, a Humble and an inconspicuous product, like a Bobbypin can remain as a great industry and enabler, if nurtured well and given the importance it deserves!

Please do give us your support with your comments, remarks, suggestions, limericks, whatever that there is to know in this whole wide world! We at Saiman, will always endaevour to keep producing fantastic products, keeping our customers happy.

Looking forward to some fantastic moments blogging about my love of this industry and also meeting some new people from the industry!