Pin It

In push-pin each player sets one pin (needle) on a 
table and then tries to push his pin across his opponent's 
pin.[2] The game is played by two or more players.

In "Pop the Bonnet", or "hattie", players place two 
pins on the brim of a hat. They take turns tapping 
or "popping" on the sides of the hat trying to cause
 pins to cross one another. Whichever player causes 
them to cross takes the pins.[3] [4] This was a form of
 gambling, where a player could win or lose their pins,
 which were valuable as a rare imported commodity at that time.

Boys and men might stash several pins on a sleeve or lapel to 
be prepared to play.

Push-pin was immortalized by Jeremy 
Bentham when he wrote in The Rationale of 
Reward that: "Prejudice apart, the game of
 push-pin is of equal value with the arts 
and sciences of music and poetry."[6] John
 Stuart Mill, who disagreed with Bentham on 
this point, misquotes Bentham as saying, "Push-pin is
 as good as poetry."[7] Mill's version is now widely 
attributed to Bentham.