Happy National Zipper Day! Today commemorates April 29, 1913, when the patent for the modern zipper was issued.
The day celebrates something that we often do not think about and may automatically take for granted.
The first attempt at creating the zipper came from the inventor of the sewing machine.
In 1851, American inventor Elias Howe received a patent for the “Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure.” However, Howe never marketed his invention and missed the recognition he may have received.
Forty-two years later, American machine salesman, mechanical engineer and inventor Whitcomb L. Judson began selling the “Clasp Locker.”
Very similar to Howe’s patent, this device served as a more complicated hook-and-eye shoe fastener.
Judson started the Universal Fastener Company where he manufactured his new device and debuted it at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. There he met with very little success. Because Judson put his invention before the public for sale, he earned credit as its creator.
In 1906, the Universal Fastener Company also hired Swedish-American electrical engineer Gideon Sundback.. He was highly skilled and known for his devotion to the company.
On April 29, 1913, he was granted a patent for the modern zipper, known then as the “Separable Fastener.” In 1917, he submitted modifications to his invention.
Today we wear designs quite similar to the ones Sundback created in his patent. While he may have called them a separable fastener, we know them as zippers.
By 1923, American industrialist in the rubber industry and founder of B.F. Goodrich Company B.F. Goodrich popularized the word zipper as it applied to use in the boots and pouches it made. The company even copyrighted the name for a time.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Wear something with a zipper. Try sewing a zipper into an article of clothing. It’s harder than it looks. Share photos using #NationalZipperDay to post on social media.
HISTORY
The day commemorates the date in 1913 when the zipper was patented by Gideon Sundback on April 29, 1913.
#NationalZipperDay
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