Ear piercing before "the Gun" was invented

[Claudia S]

Thanks, Carlotta. Would anyone else who has had their ears pierced for say, 20 years for more like to share their story, particularly, if they did not have their ears pierced with an ear piercing gun.

Ciao, Claudia

[Paul M]

A search on Google for 'ear piecing instruments' brought up a link to
e-bay for old medical equipment and there for sale is a device from The Universal Instrument Company (of Saint Paul, Minnesota) called 'the Universal Ear Piercer' which must be a 1960's piercing tool that pushes a stud into a plastic head.
The studs are by a company called Grafco.
The link takes to pictures of the tool which looks like the Simplicity tool and pictures of the studs which look a lot sharper than todays piercing studs.
Anyone else come across this?

[Guest]

Mum thinks there was an earlier model. Anyway by the time she was working in the shop the Simplicity tool was a bit different from when she had her ears pierced, but she's not sure what the differences were.
She says that it was also used for piercing the nostrils of the girls from a couple of Indian families who lived in the area. There were no specialist Indian jewellers in those days. She would have liked to have this done herself but no English girls had their nostrils pierced back then. (Unlike my daughters and myself!)

[calmdown]

mid 70's, some of the boys in school used a cork, some ice from a frozen icepop and a drawing pin, ice on both sides of the ear for 5 mins, mark the spot with a felt tip pen, put the cork behind the ear and push the pin through. not for me thanks.

[PaulM]

Another check on Google for 'Vintage Ear piercing devices' brought up an item for sale on e-bay of... a vintage ear piercing device. Still in it's velvet lined box, with a sterilising tin and tweezers. It is the plunger device, has no name but it looks like an early version of the Simplicity piercing instrument described previously.
The seller thinks it dates from the 1930's to the 1950's, and what an amazing find. It must have been a very swift operation using this device.
What I think is amazing that after piercing a hole, the sleeper then had to be inserted by hand into what is an open wound and with no surgical gloves to use. Its a wonder that there were not large numbers of infected ears.
I have tried to copy and paste this picture but it will not let me.
Still interested to hear from anyone who had their ears pierced this way and their feelings at the time.
I'm hoping to put my wife's sleepers in for her and turn them very soon.

[Guest]

The above poster means this
www.ebay.co.uk 300040138256

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300040138256&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.co.uk%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26satitle%3D300040138256%26fvi%3D1

But this link will only work for three months, then expires.

looks like BIG syringe with a bit like a normal ear-piercing tool
to stop it cutting into your head

[Old_Timer]

What I think is amazing that after piercing a hole, the sleeper then had to be inserted by hand into what is an open wound and with no surgical gloves to use. Its a wonder that there were not large numbers of infected ears.

Until the modern piercing gun that pierces the ear and inserts the sleeper in one operation was developed, no matter how a person's ears were pierced the sleeper had to be inserted by hand after the ear was pierced. As I remember there were quite a few infected ears, but we just considered it part of the process of getting your ears pierced.

[Mr Simplicity]

Hi all - I found this thread recently because I am absolutely fascinated by ear piercing, and especially the method before the gun... I recently acquired the Simplicity Mark I ear piercer, and would be happy to describe how it works for those who are interested. I will say that its major limitation is the lack of ability to sterilise it, and it is extremely crude by comparison with modern cartridge ear piercing. The design of the instrument is pretty elegant, and the hinged sleeper is a classic look, though... extremely sexy, I think!

What I think is amazing that after piercing a hole, the sleeper then had to be inserted by hand into what is an open wound and with no surgical gloves to use. Its a wonder that there were not large numbers of infected ears.

Until the modern piercing gun that pierces the ear and inserts the sleeper in one operation was developed, no matter how a person's ears were pierced the sleeper had to be inserted by hand after the ear was pierced. As I remember there were quite a few infected ears, but we just considered it part of the process of getting your ears pierced.

[PaulM]

Hi all - I found this thread recently because I am absolutely fascinated by ear piercing, and especially the method before the gun... I recently acquired the Simplicity Mark I ear piercer, and would be happy to describe how it works for those who are interested. I will say that its major limitation is the lack of ability to sterilise it, and it is extremely crude by comparison with modern cartridge ear piercing. The design of the instrument is pretty elegant, and the hinged sleeper is a classic look, though... extremely sexy, I think!

Oh thank you so much, somebody else like me, fascinated by ear piercing, pierced ears, and finding hinged sleepers as sexy as I do. Please do descibe it in as much detail as possible. Its a shame you can't post a picture of it. Also where did you aquire it from - was it from e-bay, the one that went for £3 recently, I was very tempted by that.
Just looking at pictures of the old Simplicity device gives me a strange feeling, knowing that women, girls and even very young childeren had their ears pierced in this very crude way. But that was a major leap on from a needle and a cork. I am really against babies and very young children having to have their ears pierced - I know cousins of mine were pierced when they were young but I don't know where. I remember when I must have been about 10 when my cousin who was about 5 years older than me, took her studs out and put them back in, not sure why, but i thought how good that looked, I think that's where it started for me.
You'll see my posts above about when my wife gave me a pair of sleepers to put in her ears - not a day i'll ever forget, she doesn't think it odd, my love of her pierced ears, she says I could have much wierder fanatsies. She is always happy to let me put her sleepers in and turn them, that is a nice feeling as they turn through her lobes, and for her as well when I tug on them gently. The first time I tried putting her stud earrings in, I was all thumbs, she had to do it. By the time she got me the sleepers I was quite OK with them, 'pull the lobe down - it will make it easier' she said. And when I do put her sleepers in now, she always asks me why I like them and I always say that it makes her look like she's just had her ears pierced.
I was fascinated by her explaining about taking her sleepers out for the first time and trying to put in proper earrings, she still has those and wears them occasionally. I only wish I could I could have seen her having her ears pierced by the Simplicity gun and then the sleepers beiing put in.
When our daughter had her ears pierced it was down to me to take her piercing studs out and put her new earrings in, I know it hurt her but she was alright, strange, just lately she hasn't worn earrings very much.
So please Mr Simplicity, tell us all about your device, your fascination of all matters to do with piercing and sleepers.
Also anyone else out there want to share their Simplcity piercing story, where you went, did you know you were going, did you want to go or was it just accepted that one day you would have pierced ears, did it hurt, did you cry, did you feint - (a colleague of mine years ago had hers done when she was 4 and feinted after the firstear was done) was it a joyful occasion and did you feel good after it?

[Guest]

Hi Paul,

Yes, I got my Simplicity instrument on eBay. It was a "Buy It Now" listing, and I could not resist. It came with two needles and a gold sleeper earring, in a black presentation box (but no local-anaesthetic bottle). While it's elegant it's a bit clumsy and hard to handle, and the really odd aspect is that the plunger, which holds the rear of the needle, extends out far enough so that it would also penetrate the earlobe if the instructions are followed verbatim. This would make for discomfort and problems with hygiene - the needles are also intended to be used again and again.

I can recall at least two kids at school who had their ears pierced with the Simplicity instrument, because they came to school the next day wearing hinged sleepers as opposed to studs. One was a girl who had endured piercing of her left ear only and told the class about it - I think there had been a problem, which was probably that she found the whole experience too traumatic, and her poor earlobe was red and crusty. The other was a boy who came to school proudly sporting an earring in his pierced left earlobe and telling us it was done "by injection", which I inferred much later could only have been with the Simplicity instrument. (He was forced to remove it because it was against school rules at the time.)

I don't know what started off my fascination with ear piercing. I was at first horrified by the notion that girls would actually succumb to having their ears pierced "all the way through" - it seemed so strange, and almost cruel. My horror turned to fascination, but I could not and cannot still put my finger on why - it's just a tiny healed wound, right? All my life I have found women's ears very beautiful, especially if they are adorned with small, well-placed piercings. As I have grown up, ear piercing has become ever more popular, and I think this is because it is now universally accepted and considered beautiful, and because ear piercing is now so easy and painless, which has in turn fed the demand to have it done (and have it done younger and younger). However, mine are unpierced - my upbringing simply does not allow it.

I don't know what I love so much about sleepers. They seem so perfectly designed for the earlobe, as if the ear were designed to wear them, as opposed to the other way round. The other thing is that they are designed simply to keep the piercing open and to be comfortable while the piercing heals (I suppose).

Finally, I have often wondered what the real purpose of undergoing ear piercing is in the first place - is it to be able to wear earrings, or is it simply to have pierced ears?

[Guest]

I think its a bit of both. In my case I had my ears pierced initially because I wanted to wear the sort of earrings which were impossible with clip-ons - small studs and sometimes hoops.
Once I had my first pair of holes I think it turned to fascination of having metal through my ears which then healed into a hole. I now have eight holes in each ear and am getting two more each side at the weekend.
The first pair were done with a gun but for all the subsequent holes I have gone to a body piercing studio and had needle piercings.I love the adrenaline rush I get as the needle goes through particularly with piercings through the cartilage. I usually now wear gold hoops in the three lowest holes and diamond studs in the higher ones. My hoops are graduated, 3" in the lowest hole then 2" & 1".

[PaulM]

"I don't know what I love so much about sleepers. They seem so perfectly designed for the earlobe, as if the ear were designed to wear them, as opposed to the other way round. The other thing is that they are designed simply to keep the piercing open and to be comfortable while the piercing heals (I suppose)"

Same here, not sure why I like sleepers, I think it's partly because they were a part of the piercing process from yesteryear, also that they go through the ear. Back in 1972 (when I was 15) in Jersey I was in a jewellers while my dad wanted to buy a watch, whilst there another family with 3 girls were talking to an assistant about having the girls ears pierced, I thought Christmas had come and started feeling a bit firm down below, but unfortunatley they were not happy about the price so did not proceed.
I had a bit of fun with a sales assistant in Samuels about 20 years ago, I was buying my wife some small gold ball studs, (also quite sexy earrings as well, a classic look) and I was querying why proper sleepers were more expensive that those flimsy hoops, she said they were solid gold so cost more, also they were called sleepers because you could sleep in them! I thought how sweet she was, clearly had no idea that they were once used after piercing to keep the hole open. I said I thought my wife had those after she had her ears pierced, but she didn't respond.
Keep any stories or experiences coming.

[PaulM]

Another tale from years ago. I worked with a girl called Jane at an office in Ealing West London. We used to go for lunch every Friday, nothing else we just went to lunch. Jane wore some hideous clip on or screw up earrings, from time to time, they were awful! I always did a quick check to see if she had them pierced but no.
One Friday, and I can't remember why she talked about her earrings (clips) and I casually asked if she had thought of having them pierced. She said she couldn't as she had very tiny lobes, they were small but I remember thinking they would take a stud. Some while later she left early one day - no reason why. Next day was Friday, we went to lunch and I said about her going early, bit nosey I suppose and she said she gone to meet her sister to have their ears pierced in the local department store - only the piercing lady was not there.
This would have to be around 1977 or 1978 so we're into the gun and stud method by then. Anyway the following Friday she came in with gold studs in her lobes. I couldn't wait until lunchtime, as as we were walking down the road, I had to say to her that I'd seen she'd had her ears pierced, I was bulging a bit by then, she replied that I wasn't supposed to notice! I said I couldn't miss them, not letting on that I was fascinated by pierced ears, ear piercing and could spot newly pierced ears a mile off.
She explained that the lady was sure she could put studs into Jane's ears, so she had them done and told me about having the studs put in. She kept her little studs in, and would have turned them as necessary (how I wanted to do that for her - but as I say we were just work mates, nothing else) Anyway one day she came in wearing a pair of hindged sleepers instead of her studs. Oh boy, I couldn't wait to ask her about her sleepers. She said the holes were not healing properly - her sisters were -so someone suggested getting some sleepers and trying them. They worked and eventually she changed them for proper earrings.

[Louise P]

I am also quite interested in reading about the various ear piercing techiques which have been used over the years. I work in Claires so ear piercing is an everyday thing for me.
I was born in 1975 and I remember very clearly my best friend Elaine at infant school arriving in the playing ground one monday morning wearing a pair of gold studs, we were aged about 6 at the time. I asked Elaine how the little gold balls stayed stuck to her ears, she told me her ears had been pierced I still didn't really understand, nobody in my family had pierced ears so I hadn't really come across it. Elaine told me that the earrings went through her ears ad she showed me the back of her earring as if to prove it. I of course asked all the usual questions about whether they hurt and so on, I was fascinated by her earrings and really quite jealous of her. When I got home from school that day I told my Mum that Elaine had earrings through her ears and I asked whether I could have the same. My mum said NO in a very firm manner, she said if you want to wear a pair of earrings I would have to save my pocket money and buy some earrings that clip onto my ears. Not knowing any different I accepted that and the next time I went shopping with Mum we purchased a pair of clip on earrings. Mum Clipped them on my ears while we were in the shop, by the time we arrived home 2 or 3 hours later the earrings were pinching my ears really badly and when I went to look at myself in the mirror to see what I looked like with earrings I saw my lobes were bright red. I wanted to wear earrings so badly I put up with the discomfort for the remainder of the day. I kept on asking my mum for pierced ears but she carried on saying no. As my 7th birthday approached Mum asked what I would like for my birthday of course I asked for pierced ears, to my amazement mum said OK. The following week mum took me to the local hairdresser to have my hair cut. I had my hair washed cut and blow dried as normal then the hairdresser fastened back my hair into a ponytail exposing my ears and clip on earrings. The hairdresser said lets take off these earrings and give you some nice new ones, she pulled open a drawing at the side of the sink in front of me and took out a plastic box opened the box and then I saw the packets of piercing studs and the gun then I realized what was about to happen suddenly I felt very nervous as the hairdresser put on a plastic apron and gloves. My ears were marked up mum confirmed the positioning and in less than a minute I had my ears pierced at last. I remember only a slight pinch as each ear was pierced followed by a dull ache for a few hours afterwards but it was less painful than wearing a pair of clip ons for a hour.

[PaulM]

Thanks for your story Louise.
Back when you had your ears pierced in 1982 I'm thinking it was not as popular as it is now, with it being done in jewellers and hairdressers and the only girls getting pierced were young daughters or babies of pierced Mums being taken to have them done without any choice or older girls who had made their own minds up. Or girls like yourself who knew what you wanted at a young age without any parental involvement, simply because your Mum did not have pierced ears so it was not something she thought of for you.
Your Mum clearly made it a special day for you and one that you remember. There would not have been many in your class with pierced ears when you had yours done, so did you feel special when you went to school the next day showing off your new studs and did any follow you. Did your Mum ever get her ears pierced?
My daughter had her ears pierced 5 years ago when she was 9 and soon after her, a few more in her class had theirs done. It was her choice though, my wife would not not have had her done when she was younger, although when she was about 3, I asked my wife if she was looking forward to when J had her ears pierced, and she said she would take her if I wanted it, but I said no. She had her ears done on the first day she went to a new childminders, whose daughter was getting a second set (Mum had about 4 per ear and each daughter was done once) and she watched it and my wife gave her the choice, after a bit of thought she said OK and was very good about it.
Our niece had hers done when she was 4 back in 1988, not her choice she was taken to have them done one day by her Mum who had said when she was 2 that she wanted her to have studs. We were told she screamed, and was told by her boyfriend at the time that she was cruel, I agreed!
I really don't go along with taking younsters and more especially babies to have their ears pierced. I have seen babies in Claires being restrained forcibly and they are screaming their heads off. I see you work in Claires, so you must have seen that happening, do you do ear piercing yourself and what is the training given? Can you sense when the child does not want to have her ears pierced.
Just out of interest there was another vintage Simplicity ear piercing device on e-bay this week, when I looked 3 days ago the highest bid was £57, strange that.