Pins and Needles Day

What the day is

Pins and Needles Day is observed on November 27. It is frequently misdescribed as being about the sensation of a limb waking up. The documented origin is a Broadway opening night.

Origin and background

On November 27, 1937, a musical revue called Pins and Needles opened in New York. It was produced by the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, and the cast were not actors. They were union members who cut and sewed clothing during the week and performed at weekends, which is why the show initially ran on Friday and Saturday nights only.

The title carries the pun the day inherits. Pins and needles are the tools of the garment trade as well as the description of nervous anticipation.

The material was political satire with songs by Harold Rome, aimed at bosses, isolationists and the fashion business, and delivered by the people the songs were about. The opening number demanded songs of social significance rather than moons and Junes, which set the tone for everything after it.

The show was expected to be a modest union entertainment and became a genuine hit instead. It moved to a full schedule, the cast eventually left their day jobs, and it ran for 1,108 performances, making it the longest-running Broadway musical up to that point. The script was revised repeatedly to keep the topical jokes current, and the company performed it at the White House for President Roosevelt.

It has since dropped out of the popular history of Broadway, which is part of why the day gets explained wrongly.

How to take part

• Listen to the surviving recordings, which are easy to find and still funny.
• Read about the Labor Stage and what a union theater program was actually for.
• Mend something with a real needle, which is the other half of the pun.
• Look up what your own union or professional body did before you joined it.
• Correct anyone who tells you the day is about your foot falling asleep.