We all use push-pins to stick papers up on bulletin boards or cubicle walls. They’re good for presentations – tack up drawings, posters, whatever you want your audience to be able to see and run their fingers over. Such a tiny, simple thing can be so useful, it’s wise to always get a box or two when you order your discount office supplies.

There’s a real rags-to-riches story associated with push-pins. The inventor, Edwin Moore, started the Moore Push-Pin Company with $112.60 in 1900. He spent his nights by himself in his rented room making push-pins to sell on the streets in the morning. He didn’t start advertising until 1903, but by that time he already had some notable accounts, including the Kodak Eastman Company.

Moore went on to invent and patent map pins (which have spherical heads instead of flat-topped handles) and picture hangers. The Moore Push-Pin Company is still in business, making the same indispensable little things, in Wyndmoor, PA.

Check your middle drawer and be sure: do you have enough push pins? They’re one of those valuable yet inexpensive little office supplies that have a way of getting lost. Order plenty of push-pins with your next batch of discount office supplies.