There's something to be said about need being the parental of invention. A small, sharp needle, some thin wire, and a lot of imagination can move mountains. -- Anon Guest
[AN: A little elementary research has shown me that the concept of a fastening device that doesn't hurt its wearer is older than you think it is. Look up fibula brooches. You're welcome.]
There's something to be said about loving another to the point of invention. Loving someone so much that creating for them is the logical and best conclusion. Such love is usually rare between adults. For parents of children... it's more frequent than one might think.
It's easy to love your baby to the point of invention, seeing to their needs and making their tiny lives so much easier.
Which included how to keep a tailclout attached to a very small and helpless being.
Some were better at good timing than others. Laying the infant on top of absorbent material could only do so much. And vessels capable of cleaning themselves are troublesome to make.
Knots and ties could only do so much. Tie things too tight, and the child is uncomfortable at best or injured at worst. Tie things too loose and... well. Cleaning up after that took even more time.
Attempts at garments to keep tailclouts on were debatably successful. The final solution came with a sleepless thought and the first advance in fastening clothes since tying knots. History has forgotten their name, but it is known that they fumbled with their cloak pin as they were messing about with their newborn's tailclout. If a ring and a pin could keep a clout on a grown body...
A little further thought added a blob of clay to the sharp point of the pin.
It was a rousing success. So much so that word spread and other mothers necessitated more inventions. Clips. Clasps. Barriers between baby and sharp points. Until the final product of a deceptively simple spring made of wire. Sharpened at one end and guarded at the other with a clever cap.
Until someone invented something better than that, thousands of parents blessed the unknown hands who invented a decent tailclout fastener.
[Image from Lykos Leather ]
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