29 April is National Zipper Day, which is observed annually. The day was created to celebrate something that we take for granted today.
In 1851, the inventor of the sewing machine, Elias Howe, patented an automatic, continuous clothing closure. However, he never attempted to market his invention and missed out on the recognition he may have received.
Whitcomb Judson began selling his Clasp Locker 42 years later and, although 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 Fair in 1893 – but it was not very successful. However, because he put his invention up for sale to the public, he received credit as its creator.
Gideon Soundback, a Swedish-American electrical engineer was hired in 1906 to work at the Universal Fastener Company and in 1913 he invented the modern zipper. A patent for the Separable Fastener was issued in 1917.
By 1923, BF Goodrich had popularised the word ‘zipper’, which it used to describe the fastening device in the boots and pouches it made. The company even copyrighted the name for a time.
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