Paisley scissors may be beautiful scissors, but when it comes to scissors, it has not always been that way.
Scissors have probably been around for nearly as long as man has needed to cut something. It might have taken them a short while to work it out. If it did not, then our ancestors were sadly lacking. But, from the day they were invented – and it was not last week – scissors took on the guise of most tools. They were dull, boring, and eminently respectable. Every pair was made out of a strong material like steel.
And then the person who was miffed because they did not invent the scissor – only because they were thousands of years too late – decided that they would do the next best thing – no, not invent penicillin – but invent a handle for the scissor that wasn’t as hard on the hand as the steel.
In the interim, of course, someone came up with the idea of putting two scissors together and calling them a pair of scissors. That was it! The scissor – with its friend, the other scissor – had evolved into something that was a necessity in the life of humans.
Why? Because it instantly became the device people used to cut their nails. From that day forward, the scissor did not exist. It lost its individual identity, and simply became part of the pair – the pair of nail scissors.
And no more would people need to chew their nails to keep them in trim. Of course, up until then, chewing nails was not a problem. For some, it alleviated stress. For others, it helped keep their teeth clean (as toothbrushes had not yet been invented).
And for those reasons, to this day, some people still chew their nails. That is because humans are genetically hard-wired to bite their nails. It is part of everyone’s DNA. Although it can also be a learned behaviour, with some developing the habit of biting their nails at an early age – not normally at birth but at an age when they think they might be late for school.
Unfortunately for them, nail-biting – much like smoking – is now seen as a repulsive habit. It is socially unacceptable to bite your nails in public – it leaves the nail-biter to be seen as edgy, unreliable, weak, and lacking in composure during a crisis. So, like most vices – but not smoking – the nail-biter has taken it indoors.
And something that for millennia was seen as perfectly normal behaviour has now been almost criminalised – well, extremely frowned upon, at the least.
If you are one of the frowners, let me ask you this. Do you know which is the sixth nearest coffee shop to you? Exactly! You don’t know!
And if you don’t know that, how can you be so sure about nail-biting being disgusting?
You can’t! And let me ask you another question – how do you think young mothers would have cut the nails of their infants thousands of years ago?
They would chew them – yes, both fingernails and toenails. And it was not seen as disgusting – it was seen as necessary!
And how do you think the courting ritual started?
No! Way before couples got to the point of kissing and sex (remember, there was no such thing as marriage thousands of years ago), the relationship would start with some innocent nail-chewing.
Could there be any better way of showing someone that you care about them and would do anything for them?
Of course, humans being human beings, are always developing, and it was not long until their unique natures and personalities created differences. Some people grew items that others wanted. In return, these people would carry out tasks as a form of payment – tasks like chewing toenails to keep them trim. Of course, this created the concept of obesity. Not for the chewer of the nails – no, for the land developer, who while busily directing others to carry out tasks necessary for the development of their flourishing enterprise, would neglect to look after their health to the extent that even if they wanted to chew their own nails, they physically could not.
When this happened, it meant that the invention of the scissor was just around the corner.
And it all came down to one man – Peter Thickie – who, sick of seeing his partner (marriage had not yet been invented) and children leave to chew toenails to enable them to survive, decided to act.
He went into a cave, close to his house, and after finding a couple of pieces of flint with what appeared to be holes cut out of them, and with sharp edges at the other end, and a screw that would fit exactly into a hole he created with a drill he also found in the cave, made the first pair of scissors.
When put together, Peter didn’t know what he had made, but he intuitively felt that whatever it was could be useful. He took the item to his friend, Archie Scissors, who gave him a vegetable – reputedly an onion – in return for the new contraption. Peter was delighted and rushed home to serve up the vegetable to his partner (marriage was not yet a thing) and children.
He was so excited because he had tasted this vegetable before, and knew that its strong taste could rid the taste of toenails, albeit temporarily.
Peter’s partner and illegitimate children (through no one’s fault as marriage was not yet a thing) spent the rest of their lives continuing to chew the toenails of the wealthy (wealth was not measured in money then, as money had not yet been invented).
As for Archie Scissors, he passed on the device to his children, who did likewise. And after 75 generations of Scissors had passed – approximately 2,000 years (as people didn’t live long) – one of Archie’s smarter descendants worked out a use for the device.
The result?
The toenail chewing industry collapsed overnight, and the demise of fingernail chewing had started (although some would say it survived for a good few thousand years afterward – and some would say still flourishes underground today).
So, while scissors have been around for thousands of years, around 300 years ago they would cost a lot of money (equivalent to the price of a 60’’ TV today).
But once the Industrial Revolution arrived, everything changed.
Scissors became so cheap to produce that some families owned multiple pairs. And some even had a pair in every room of their house.
Large scissors were developed into gardening implements - gardening scissors - medium size scissors became dominant in the kitchen - kitchen scissors - and dinky little scissors became the norm for fingernails and toenails - dinky little scissors.
And then it became about the differentiation between different scissors of the same size.
A pair of scissors is a pair of scissors, right?
Of course, a pair of scissors is a pair of scissors – what else could it be?
Maybe I asked the wrong question!
‘How do I get someone to buy my scissors instead of someone else’s scissors?’ (I don’t make scissors, I’m simply putting myself in the position of the scissors manufacturer).
Well, the scissors need to be good – they need to cut sharply and precisely.
‘I know, I’ll ornamentalise the handle.’ And that is what they did. And now you can get all sorts of beautiful scissors – scissors that fit every occasion e.g. opening scissors (to cut the ribbon), birth scissors (to cut the umbilical cord), etc.
Of course, some people use scissors for darker purposes, and scissors lodged in the eyes have become a staple in horror movies – but we won’t mention that here in this family-oriented article.
With a free-for-all taking place in Scissor World, it would not be long before some shrewd manufacturers developed Paisley Pattern scissors. (Paisley is that iconic swirling shape that has enamoured the world for centuries – please don’t tell me you have never heard of it).
Paisley scissors lend themselves to any potential use of scissors – for the garden, for nails – and they most especially lend themselves to be perfect handicraft scissors. I could go on, but there is no point! I am sure you have already recognised that Paisley scissors could be perfect for almost any scissor use. (If you disagree, please let me know)
So, whether you want a pair of Paisley scissors to bring colour and life to whatever you are planning on using them for, or maybe you would like to give some beautiful Paisley scissors as a personal gift that will last just short of forever, or maybe you want to start a collection of Paisley scissors – and thereby become a Paisley scissors collector – check out the Paisley scissors below.
We at Just Paisley think you will love them – until you accidentally cut yourself with them!
