What are these things?

[johnmann]

At some churches, attached to the back of pews are these clothes pin like things. What is that?

 

[Oneofthewomen]

It’s probably a hat clip.

Does it look something like this?

 

[johnmann]

Yes. Thanks. Were these unique to churches? I assume it was for men’s hats?

 

[CatholicRaven]

The parishes I’ve seen them in use them to hang small papers with prayers or parish information on them.

 

[MarkThompson]

Already covered in this thread.

 

[runningdude]

Yes. Thanks. Were these unique to churches? I assume it was for men’s hats?

Back in the forties or so, it was custom for men and women to wear hats in public. Then, as today, it was also expected that men remove their hat indoors (women could wear their hats indoors mostly to avoid hat hair!). This custom applied in most public/semi-public buildings, not just churches.

I’ve seen clips in both Catholic and Protestant churches. I’d presume they may also be found in older town halls or similar buildings, but haven’t been in any century old council chambers recently to check.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

A few years back I was in a church where the clips were only in the pews on one side. The custom at the time the church was constructed was for men to sit on one side and women on the other. Likewise, statues of male and female saints were restricted to the appropriate sides.

 

[pippin]

They are still used in military chapels.

 

[PJM]

=johnmann;10679781]at some churches, attached to the back of pews are these clothes pin like things. What is that?

hat holders and or purse holders