'It's like looking for a needle in a haystack'.
Although this saying has fallen out of fashion and is no longer one of the most popular sayings, in the use of our modern language today. It is a statement that is still widely used by some to imply that something is very difficult, time consuming or frustrating to do.
But has anyone ever actually tried looking for a needle in a haystack and another interesting point did they ever find it? These were a couple of questions I found myself contemplating the other day, and decided it would be fun
to try and find out.
In this article I have compiled some of the most interesting and entertaining accounts of needle in haystack activity that I could find, I hope you enjoy reading as much as I have enjoyed researching.
The Levin Agricultural show, 1955.
Almost a hundred miles north of Wellington, is a small town called Levin. During Levin's agricultural show, they used to hold a find the needle in the haystack competition for children. (This was clearly before stringent health and safety measures were bought in, as this would blatantly not be allowed to happen today). In the center of the arena a lorry would offload the hay containing the needle and children were invited to find it. In 1955 a ten year old boy named Warren Johns, found the needle and won a Clockwork Hornby train, which he continued to keep throughout his life.
Jim Moran experiments.
Jim Moran was an eccentric American who was famous for his 'unusual' experiments, he took pleasure in questioning common conceptions. As well as placing a bull in a china shop in New York City, he also notoriously sold fridges to the Inuits.
His needle in a haystack stunt similarly made waves at the time. In Washington he arranged for 50 tons of hay to be dumped in a pile and for someone to hide a needle
The easiest method.
Burn the hay until you are left with nothing but ashes, then use either heat sensing glasses to spot it or wave a metal detector over the area to find it. Not the most environmentally friendly way of detection, but easier then the conventional method for sure.
Variables.
Many variables come into play when looking for a needle in a haystack, you have to consider the size of your haystack and the size of your needle. What tools or equipment you do and do not have at your disposal, and what your motivations on finding the needle are. Rather interestingly I also discovered that an element of competition makes for faster needle finding, as does a piece of thread being attached to it, as apposed to it being a needle on its own. Bright direct sunlight makes them easier to find, due to increased probability of refection and for the stack not to be too tightly packed.
Did you know?
Needles are one of the oldest forms of tool that have been used by many civilizations for millenia. These primitive instruments were originally made of bone and the Chinese were the first people to start constructing them from steel. The humble needle is even mentioned in the Bible, King James translation, Mathew 19:24 'Again I tell you it is easier for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle, then for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god'.
