The very fast reference to nails can be traced back Mesopotamia about 3500 BC. Nails were found on the statue of a bull made out of copper sheets, which were nailed on to a wooden frame.
During the Middle Ages, nails were made by hammering rods through a series of holes of decreasing size.
Later, artisans known as nailers or nailors, who became popular around 1800, started making a variety of handmade nails.
It was in 1786 that the very first nail making machine was developed in the US by Ezekiel Reed. Later, in 1790, Thomas Clifford introduced another machine in England. Though the wrought-iron nails continued well into the 19th century, they lost their demand gradually as harder cut nails were preferred, considering their various uses. This was when wire nails came into being. By 1913, ninety percent of manufactured nails were wire nails. Thus nails became cheaper. Today, almost all nails are manufactured from wire, and instead of bronze or wrought iron, steel is used to make them.
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