The title Pins and Needles was created by Max Danish, long-time editor of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU)'s newspaper Justice.

Word-of-mouth was so enthusiastically positive that the cast abandoned their day jobs; the production expanded to a full performance schedule of eight shows per week.

According to John Kenrick, Pins and Needles "is the only hit ever produced by a labor union, and the only time when a group of unknown non-professionals brought a successful musical to Broadway.

[2][3] Brooks Atkinson, perhaps the most important theater critic at the time, wrote that "Pins and Needles is a gay, satirical revue, which is amusing, as Mrs. Roosevelt knows, for she has recently sealed it with the cachet of the White House".

"[14] The scene in question satirized the anti-Jewish, pro-fascist Catholic priest Father Coughlin, the German American Bund leader Fritz Kuhn, and Democratic Party U.S.

[19] Pins and Needles was presented in the UK for the first time at the Cock Tavern Theatre in Kilburn, London, in November and December 2010.

[20][21] In 2011, an updated version of the show was performed at The Foundry Theatre, in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, by members of the social-justice organization "FUREE" (Families United For Racial and Economic Equality).

[19] Columbia president Goddard Lieberson did not approve Streisand's involvement with this record until pressured by Harold Rome.