Zipper History - Invention of the Zipper Invention: zipper in 1913 Function: noun / zip-per / Originally a trademark. Definition: A fastening device consisting of parallel rows of metal, plastic, or nylon teeth on adjacent edges of an opening that are interlocked by a sliding tab. Patent: 1,060,378 (US) issued April 29,1913 Inventor: Criteria; First to patent. Modern prototype. . Birth: 1880 Death: June 21, 1954 Nationality: Swedish Milestones: 1851 Patent # 8,540 issued Nov. 25, automatic, continuous clothing closure, Elias Howe, 1893 Patent # 504,037 issued Aug. 25, shoe fastener, hook-and-eye, Whitcomb L. Judson, 1894 Universal Fastener Company formed 1904 Automatic Hook and Eye Company 1905 C-urity, Whitcomb L.

Judson, 1913 hookless fastener, Otto Frederick Gideon Sundback, 1917 Patent # 1,219,881 (US) issued Mar. 20, 1917, Talon, separable fastener, Gideon Sundback, 1925 Zipper name, B. F. Goodrich Company, 1928 Hookless Fastener Comapny renamed Talon, Inc. 1934 zipper manufacturing, YKK group, zipper, clothing, fastening device, apparel, Sundback, Gideon Sundback, Elias Howe, Whitcomb L. Judson, B. F. Goodrich Company, history, invention, facts, inventor, biography. The Story: After a slow birth and years of rejection, the zipper found its way into everything from plastic pencil cases to sophisticated space suits and countless "fly" jokes. The zippers used today are little different then the Gideon Sundback design of 1917. An early device similar to the zipper, "an Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure", was patented by Elias Howe in 1851, but did not reach the market.

Howe was preoccupied with the sewing machine that he had patented in 1846. Whitcomb L. Judson loved machines and experimented with many different kinds of gadgets. He invented a number of labor-saving items, including the zipper. It came about because of a friends stiff back. The problem was that his friend could not do up his shoes. Judson came up with a slide fastener that could be opened or closed with one hand. This was an absolutely new idea, and in a few weeks Judson had a working model. On August 29, 1893, he patented his new "clasp locker." The earliest "clasp locker" fasteners were being used in the apparel industry by 1905, but they weren't considered practical. The design used today, based on interlocking teeth, was invented by an employee of Whitcomb Judson's, Swedish born scientist Gideon Sundback. In 1913 and patented as the "Hookless Fastener" and after more improvements patented in 1917 as the "Separable Fastener".

Only after Gideon Sundbach, had remodeled Judson's fastener into a more streamlined and reliable form, was the fastener a success. One of its first customers was the US Army. It applied zippers to the clothing and gear of the troops of World War I; When the B. F. Goodrich Company decided to market galoshes with Sundback's fasteners, the product became popular. These new galoshes could be fastened with a single zip of the hand. A Goodrich executive is said to have slid the fastener up and down on the boot and exclaimed, ï¿½Zip 'er up,ï¿½ echoing the sound made by this clever device and the fasteners came to be called "zippers." Registered in 1925, zipper was originally a B.F. Goodrich trademark for overshoes with fasteners. As the fastener that ï¿½zippedï¿½ came to be used in other articles, its name was used as well. B.F. Goodrich sued to protect its trademark but was allowed to retain proprietary rights only over Zipper Boots.

Zipper itself had moved into the world of common nouns Today the YKK Group is most famous for making zippers, although it also does business in other fastening products, architectural products, and industrial machinery. When you see YKK, you think of zippers, because we have manufactured zippers since 1934.. The name YKK was first registered as a trademark in 1946. Over the years, the letters "YKK" were stamped onto the zippers' pull tabs, and thus YKK became known as the Company's trademark. TO LEARN MORE The History of the Zipper - Who Invented the Zipper? The History of the Zipper The History of the Zipper YKK on Zipper. Courtesy MorgueFile By Mary Bellis Updated August 10, 2016. It was a long way up for the humble zipper, the mechanical wonder that has kept our lives "together" in many ways. On its way up the zipper has passed through the hands of several dedicated inventors, though none convinced the general public to accept the zipper as part of everyday fashion. It was the magazine and fashion industry that made the novel zipper the popular item it is today.

The story begins when Elias Howe, who invented the sewing machine, received a patent in 1851 for an "Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure." It didn't go much further beyond that though. Perhaps it was the success of the sewing machine, that caused Elias not to pursue marketing his clothing closure system. As a result, Howe missed his chance to become the recognized "Father of the Zip." Forty-four years later, Whitcomb Judson, who also invented the "Pneumatic Street Railway," marketed a "Clasp Locker" device similar to system described in the 1851 Howe patent. continue reading below our video Should I Buy my House or Continue to Rent? Being first to market, Whitcomb got credit for being the "Inventor of the Zipper," However, his 1893 patent did not use the word zipper. The Chicago inventor's "Clasp Locker" was a complicated hook-and-eye shoe fastener . Together with businessman Colonel Lewis Walker, Whitcomb launched the Universal Fastener Company to manufacture the new device. The clasp locker debuted at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and was met with little commercial success.

It was a Swedish-born electrical engineer named Gideon Sundback whose work helped make the zipper the hit it is today. Originally hired to work for the Universal Fastener Company, his design skills and a marriage to the plant-manager's daughter Elvira Aronson led to a position as head designer at Universal. In his position, he improved the far from perfect "Judson C-curity Fastener." And when Sundback's wife died in 1911, the grieving husband busied himself at the design table and by December of 1913, came up with what would become the modern zipper. Gideon Sundback's new and improved system increased the number of fastening elements from four per inch to ten or eleven, had two facing-rows of teeth that pulled into a single piece by the slider, and increased the opening for the teeth guided by the slider. His patent for the "Separable Fastener" was issued in 1917. Sundback also created the manufacturing machine for the new zipper.

The "S-L" or scrapless machine took a special Y-shaped wire and cut scoops from it, then punched the scoop dimple and nib and clamped each scoop on a cloth tape to produce a continuous zipper chain. Within the first year of operation, Sundback's zipper-making machine was producing a few hundred feet of fastener per day. The popular "zipper" name came from the B. F. Goodrich Company, which decided to use Gideon's fastener on a new type of rubber boots or galoshes. Boots and tobacco pouches with a zippered closure were the two chief uses of the zipper during its early years. It took twenty more years to convince the fashion industry to seriously promote the novel closure on garments. In the 1930's, a sales campaign began for children's clothing featuring zippers. The campaign advocated zippers as a way to promote self-reliance in young children as the devices made it possible for them to dress in self-help clothing.

A landmark moment happened in 1937 when the zipper beat the button in the "Battle of the Fly." French fashion designers raved over the use of zippers in men's trousers and Esquire magazine declared the zipper the "Newest Tailoring Idea for Men." Among the zippered fly's many virtues was that it would exclude "The Possibility of Unintentional and Embarrassing Disarray." The next big boost for the zipper came when devices that open on both ends arrived, such as on jackets. Today the zipper is everywhere, in clothing, luggage, leather goods and countless other objects. Thousands of zipper miles are produced daily to meet the needs of consumers, thanks to the early efforts of the many famous zipper inventors. Whitcomb Judson - Factbites [No title] The inventor was Whitcomb L. Judson, then of Chicago , who titled his application "Clasp Locker or Unlocker for Shoes." They looked something like this: "On one side of an opening of a high top shoe is a row of hooklike clasps; on the other, a row of attachments.

Judson's invention was still, even after some improvements, not very good, and even the patents promised only usefulness for shoes and not much else. Whitcomb Judson had actually had this idea in one of his 1896 patents , his idea was simply too complex for it to work. /hi/zipperhistory/story.html (2364 words) Untitled Judson and Walker sold exactly twenty of them to the U.S. Postal Service so they could implement them on their mailbags. Judson was still convinced that the clasp locker was destined to take over buttons and shoelaces as a better fastener, so he continued to pursue marketing it. Although they were much more popular than they were when Whitcomb Judson made them, fasteners had yet to reach their peak of greatness. /thezipperpage/zippers.html (1286 words) MPI Outdoor Products (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01) Whitcomb L. Judson was a lover of gadgets and machines and the idea for his "clasp locker" came from when a friend had a stiff back from trying to fasten his shoes.

Judson's clasp locker was used mostly on mailbags, tobacco pouches and shoes. The name changed again when the B. Goodrich Co. used it in rubber boots, galoshes, and called it the " zipper " because the boots could be fastened with one hand. /shootingsports/zipper.htm (267 words) Zipper - Background, Raw Materials, The Manufacturing Judson's mechanism was an arrangement of hooks and eyes with a slide clasp that would connect them. After Judson displayed the new clasp lockers at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago , he obtained financial backing from Lewis Walker, and together they founded the Universal Fastener Company in 1894. Judson invented a zipper that would part completely (like the zippers found on today's jackets), and he discovered it was better to clamp the teeth directly onto a cloth tape that could be sewn into a garment, rather than have the teeth themselves sewn into the garment. /Volume-1/Zipper.html (2460 words) Judson Family Crest The Anglo-Saxon name Judson comes from the names Judd and Jutt, which are pet forms of the personal name Jordan.

In continental Europe, the most ancient recorded family crest was discovered upon the monumental effigy of a Count of Wasserburg in the church of St. Emeran, at Ratisobon, Germany... In the Judson coat of arms as in all coat of arms the crest is only one element of the full armorial achievement. /xq/asp.fc/qx/judson-family-crest.htm (554 words) CBC4Kids: History of Inventions, a timeline from Pottery to Computers. (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01) The inventor of the zipper was Whitcomb L. Judson, who came up with the fancy fastener to help out a friend. Judson's friend had a stiff back, and could not bend over to do up his shoes. Judson, a Chicago native, already owned over a dozen patents for mechanical items such as improvements to motors and railroad braking systems. /kids/general/the-lab/history-of-invention/zipper.html (146 words) JUDSON, WHITCOMB L. Whitcomb L.

Judson was an American engineer from Chicago , Illinois, who invented a metal zipper device with locking teeth in 1890. Whitcomb L. Judson was an American engineer from Chicago , Illinois, who invented the zipper . Judson died in 1909 , before his device became commonly used and well known. /inventors/apparel.shtml (1936 words) Gideon Sundbach - The Zip Fastener - ( Elias Howe + Whitcomb Judson ) - Design And Technology On The Web - Inventors ... A manufacturer of boots placed an order for the fastener and so helped its popularity but the fastener was only eventually used in clothes production during the 1930's. The original inventor of the 'zip' was Elias Howe (1851 patent ) (who incidentally also invented the sewing machine) with an improvement to the zip by Whitcomb Judson in 1891 although his version depended more on a hook and eye system that was opened and closed with a slider. His design was for boots and it is ironic that the order for Sundback's fastener took off because of an order from a boot company too.

/inventors/page16.htm (255 words) Pimp Ya Hide, man!: ZIP HISTORY & how zippers work Whitcomb Judson (who also invented the 'Pneumatic Street Railway') marketed a 'Clasp Locker' a device similar to the 1851 Howe patent . Being first to market it gave Whitcomb the credit of being the ' Inventor of the Zipper ', However, his 1893 patent did not use the word zipper . The grieving husband busied himself at the design table and by December of 1913, he had designed the modern zipper . /2005/09/zip-history-how-zippers-work.html (710 words) Corporate Design Foundation - @issue journal (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01) First patented in 1893 by Chicago engineer Whitcomb Judson, the sliding clasp was meant to be a godsend for high-button shoe wearers, doing away with the need to hook 20 or so tiny buttons. Undeterred, in 1904 Judson unveiled an improved model, the C-Curity.

Convinced the concept was still sound, Judson's backers put engineer Gideon Sundback to work on the problem and introduced the Plako as "the C-Curity fastener made perfect" in 1913. /journal/0601_zipper.php (452 words) Osha Inspections: A Survival Guide - MC Magazine May/Junel 2006 - Concrete Publications - NPCA For example, after years of rejection, Whitcomb Judson’s “clasp locker” eventually caught on. The idea for it came about because of a friend’s stiff back and resulting inability to fasten his shoes, so by 1893 Judson patented his clasp locker, a slide fastener that could be opened and closed with one hand. In 1913, Gideon Sundback – Judson’s employee – took the idea up a notch and patented the “hookless fastener” and in 1917 the “separable fastener.” BF Goodrich decided to use the fasteners on galoshes, and the invention became an instant hit.

/publications/mc/2006_mayjune/mending_mindset.htm (1371 words) Science and Society Picture Library - Search The zip fastener was first invented for fastening shoes by the American inventor Whitcomb Judson (d 1909 ) in 1891. The zip fastener has two sets of interlocking teeth, meshed by means of a slide that moves up and down. Keywords: 20th Century, Age of Electricity (1870-1913, Clothing, Fasteners, Fastenings, France, Judson, Judson, Whitcomb, Locks, Locks And Fastenings, Whitcomb, Zip, Zip Fastenings /results.asp?image=10314066 (124 words) Amazon.com: Zipper: An Exploration in Novelty: Books: Robert D. Friedel (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01) How the ingenious zipper , a newfangled, unwanted novelty, became a ubiquitous part of daily life is the story told in this engaging chronicle peopled by a colorful cast of characters.

The zipper can be traced to oddball Chicago inventor Whitcomb Judson, whose awkward shoe fastener, patented in 1893, never quite caught on. Lewis Walker, a suave Pennsylvania lawyer and investor, made the hookless fastener his mission, enlisting the help of Otto Gideon Sundbach, a Swedish immigrant engineer who improved on Judson's invention with a 1917 patent that revolutionized the modern zipper . /exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393035999?v=glance (1106 words) Macomb Co., Michigan Genealogy Queries Page 6 At some time they moved to Detroit where Louis was engaged in bookkeeping and as a conductor on a street car line. The children of Louis Judson WHITCOMB and Eva SNOVER attended school at the one room school house in Davis, Mi. I am searching for the dates of death for Louis Judson WHITCOMB and Eva (Mary/Minnie) SNOVER, the location of their burial sites and the location of the SNOVER FARM in Davis or Ray, Mi.

/~maggie/macomb/queries9.htm (3011 words) Invention of the zipper « Inventions and Inventors Inventions The history of zippers could be traced to Whitcomb L. Judson who was reported to be a lover of gadgets and machines. He got his idea for a “clasp locker” when a friend complained of a stiff back after trying to fasten his shoes. The bulk of a zipper consists of two strips of fabric tape, each affixed to one of the two pieces to be joined, carrying from tens to hundreds of specially shaped metal or plastic teeth. These teeth can be either individual or shaped from a continuous coil, and are also referred to as elements. The slider operated by hand, moves along the rows of teeth. Inside the slider is a Y-shaped channel that meshes together or separates the opposing rows of teeth, depending on the direction of the slider’s movement Elias Howe, who invented the sewing machine, received a patent in 1851 for an “Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure”. Perhaps because of the success of his sewing machine, he did not try to seriously market it, and missed out on any recognition he might otherwise have received.

Forty-two years later, Whitcomb Judson, who invented the pneumatic street railway, marketed a “Clasp Locker”. The device was similar to Howe’s patent, but actually served as a (more complicated) hook-and-eye shoe fastener. Whitcomb launched the Universal Fastener Company to manufacture the new device. The clasp locker had its public debut at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and met with little commercial success. Gideon Sundback Gideon Sundback , who was an employee of Whitcomb Judson’s and a Swedish born scientist, invented the modern zipper in St. Catherine, Ontario, Canada in 1913. Gideon was born in 1880. A Swedish immigrant and electrical engineer, Gideon Sundback was hired to work for the Universal Fastener Company. He had good design skills and got married to the plant-manager’s daughter Elvira Aronson. These helped Sundback to the position of head designer at Universal. He was responsible for improving the far from perfect ‘Judson C-curity Fastener.’ Unfortunately, Sundback’s wife died in 1911.

The grieving husband busied himself at the design table, by December of 1913; he came up with the modern zipper. Invention of Zipper His invention was based upon the previous work of other engineers such as Elias Howe, Max Wolff, and Whitcomb Judson. The patent was issued in 1917 under the name separable fastener. The name zipper was created by B.F. Goodrich who used the device on their new boots. Initially boots and tobacco pouches were the primary use for zippers and it took another twenty years before they caught on in the fashion industry. Sundback increased the number of fastening elements from four per inch to ten or eleven had two facing-rows of teeth that pulled into a single piece by the slider, and increased the opening for the teeth guided by the slider. Sundback also created the manufacturing machine for the new zipper. The ‘S-L’ or scrapless machine took a special Y-shaped wire and cut scoops from it, then punched the scoop dimple and nib, and clamped each scoop on a cloth tape to produce a continuous zipper chain. Within the first year of operation, Sundback’s zipper-making machinery was producing a few hundred feet of fastener per day.

Only after Gideon Sundback, had remodeled Judson’s fastener into a more streamlined and reliable form, was the fastener a success. One of its first customers was the US Army. It applied zippers to the clothing and gear of the troops of World War I. The product became popular when Goodrichs decided to market galoshes with Sunback’s fasteners. A Goodrich executive is said to have slid the fastener up and down on the boot and exclaimed, “Zip ‘er up,” echoing the sound made by this clever device and the fasteners came to be called “zippers.” Registered in 1925, zipper was originally a B.F. Goodrich trademark for overshoes with fasteners. After a slow birth and years of rejection, the zipper found its way into everything from plastic pencil cases to sophisticated space suits. The next big boost for the zipper came when zippers could open on both ends, as on jackets. The zippers used today are little different then the Gideon Sundback design of 1917. Today the zipper is everywhere, in clothing, luggage and leather goods and countless other objects. Who Invented the Zipper?

| Wonderopolis Wonder of the Day #601 Who Invented the Zipper? Who designed the modern zipper? Where did the name “zipper" come from? Tags: Listen Have you ever given much thought to what life might be like without the humble zipper ? For starters, your clothes would have a hard time staying put. In a stiff breeze, it's handy to have a jacket that zips up. Blue jeans probably wouldn't be as much fun to wear without zippers either! If you go on a camping trip, zippers play an important role, too. Your suitcase or backpack might spill its contents everywhere if it wasn't zipped shut. You might also get cold at night if your sleeping bag didn't zip up nice and tight. The first methods used to keep clothes fastened were buttons . Buttons worked well for the most part, but eventually clever inventors searched for even better ways to keep clothes closed. The invention of the modern zipper was actually a long process that involved several different people.

The inventor of the sewing machine, Elias Howe, received a patent in 1851 for an “ Automatic , Continuous Clothing Closure ." Although it was a good idea, he didn't market it, because he was too busy promoting the sewing machine. Over 40 years later, Whitcomb Judson improved upon Howe's idea and began to market what he called a “ Clasp Locker ." He designed it to be a fastener for shoes. To produce his new device, he started the Universal Fastener Company. The product debuted at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, but it didn't have much success . The modern zipper was eventually designed in 1913 by Gideon Sundback, who worked at the Universal Fastener Company in Hoboken, New Jersey. He received a patent for his “ Separable Fastener" in 1917. Sundback's design increased the number of fastening elements to 10 per inch and included two rows of interlocking teeth that would latch together with the help of a slider. His design was the first fastener to resemble what we now know as a zipper . But Sundback didn't come up with the name!

The name “ zipper " was developed by the B.F. Goodrich Company. They used Sundback's device as a fastener on a new type of rubber boots they produced. They called the device a “ zipper " and the name stuck! Early on, zippers were mainly used on boots and pouches that held tobacco. It would be another 20 years before the fashion industry began to use zippers on clothing. One of the first uses on closing was replacing the buttons on men's trousers with zippers. Today, zippers remain very popular and can be found on all sorts of clothing and other products. Take a look around you. How many zippers do you see and use on a daily basis? Wonder Words (17) Who Invented the Zipper Who Invented the Zipper By Kate Miller-Wilson Crafter One of the most revolutionary devices in sewing history, the zipper forever changed the way clothing was designed. Like many inventions, the zipper went through a lot of design changes over the years. Who Invented the Zipper Used Today? Today's zippers bear little resemblance to the first designs patented by early inventors.

It took three different men, many dramatic design improvements, and almost 80 years to create the zipper most seamstresses use today. First Basic Zipper: Elias Howe Elias Howe, who invented the modern lockstitch loop sewing machine , patented the first zipper in November of 1851. According to his original patent, available for viewing at the US Patent and Trademark Office , he called the device a "Fastening for Garments, Etc." Instead of joining two rows of teeth, as modern zippers do, Howe's design involved distributing closure clips evenly along the area to be closed. At the time he invented the zipper, Howe was focused on marketing his sewing machine. He never pursued further developments in the "Fastening for Garments." Pull Tab Zipper: Whitcomb Judson 42 years after Howe filed his patent for the first primitive zipper, a mechanical engineer named Whitcomb Judson invented a zipper that used a pull tab to join two edges. This tab ran along a track, similar to a modern zipper, and joined hooks and loops together. Witcomb received his patent in 1893 and marketed the closure as a method for fastening shoes.

He also hoped that it might be used for gloves, corsets, and bags, and he named the device a "Clasp Locker." He opened the Universal Fastener Company to begin manufacturing closures for shoes on a large scale. Unfortunately, design flaws meant that the Clasp Locker would open unexpectedly, and this may have prevented clothing manufacturers from using it in garments. At the time Judson died in 1909, the use of the device was limited to shoes. Modern Zipper Design: Gideon Sundback An engineer at the Universal Fastener Company, Gideon Sundback worked to improve Judson's design. He added the zipper teeth familiar to most modern seamstresses, as well as the side tapes that hold the two edges of teeth in place. He also made several improvements that created a more secure closure, eliminating the unexpected opening that users of Judson's original model experienced. Still called the "Clasp Locker," Sundback's revised design received its modern name when the B.F. Goodrich company used the device to close galoshes. The galoshes were marketed with a "zipper," and the name stuck in consumers' minds.

More Information About Zipper History To learn more about the men who invented the zipper and the design evolution of this handy device, check out the following resources: Who invented zipper? - Who Invented? Who Invented? by 2016 Revision Leave a Comment The credit of inventing zipper goes to Whitcomb Judson of Chicago in 1891. He got the patent for this clasp locker in August 1893. Judson was tired of tying his shoe laces and then had an idea of inventing hook and eye fasteners for the shoes. Though it is believed that in 1851 Howe made the first zipper in the name of Automatic Continuous Clothing Closure but he was to busy with his sewing machine invention that he could not devote time to the marketing of the same. Judson was a mechanical engineer by profession. Judson with a businessman Lewis Walker started a joint venture and established the first manufacturing company of zippers named “The Universal Fastening Company” to produce the shoe fasteners. The fasteners were brought to public through the Chicago World Fair in 1893. The response to the product was not good.

In 1913, Gideon Sandbank, a Swedish born electrical engineer was hired by the Universal Fastening Company and he introduced the improved version of the zipper. Instead of hook and eye method it used metal teeth which appeared more practical. This invention was patented as separable fasteners in 1917. B. F. Goodrich Company gave the product its popular name zipper. Around that time the zipper could make its place in shoes and tobacco pouches. It was in 1930s that the zippers became an integral part of fashion industry, when the public got convinced that zipper was a better substitution over buttons. If you found this page useful then please share it « Previous Invention | American Technology and Culture American Technology and Culture Endnotes Invention The development of the zipper into a reliable device took several decades. The U.S. Patent Office approved several early designs that only vaguely resembled today’s zipper. Elias Howe, Jr. was the first inventor to design a zipper-like device in response to the more time consuming fasteners used for clothing and shoes. His “Fastening for Garments,” patented in 1851, was described as an “automatic, continuous clothing closure” [1].

However, his invention had many issues that needed to be addressed. Howe was not interested in continuing work with the fastener due to his focus on another of his inventions, the sewing machine [2]. The design was not developed, and it was nearly fifty years before another inventor made an attempt at a new fastening device. The first patent to use a slide device, which enabled the fasteners to be brought together in a semiautomatic way, belonged to Whitcomb Judson. While Judson’s design used recognizable fastening devices like clasps and hooks, the addition of a slide proved to be innovative. Judson was said to be a portly man who tired of bending over to lace up or button his shoes [3]. Finding issues with current technology, he designed his own fastener, referred to as a “Clasp Locker or Unlocker for Shoes,” in 1891 [4]. He continued to think of improvements, and actually filed for another patent, simply called “Shoe Fastening,” before the first one had been completed [5]. His original design would have required a change in shoe manufacturing, but the later design had the ability to fit into existing shoes.

Both devices were patented on the same day in 1893. With support from an old associate, Harry L. Earle, and with financial backing from a Pennsylvania lawyer, Colonel Lewis A. Walker, Judson formed the Universal Fastener Company in Hoboken, New Jersey to take advantage of the patents. While he continued to make improvements, Judson’s early fasteners did not sell well. They had a tendency to pop open and tear the fabric, and the selling price was exceedingly high in order to match labor costs. In 1902, Judson patented a “Chain Making Machine” to speed up the process of making the fastener [6]. Nevertheless, the product and the machine remained unreliable. Finally, in 1904 he created a design using hooks and eyes connected to a fabric tape, which could then be attached to shoes and garments. Judson’s new design made the first commercial introduction of the fastener possible [7]. Meanwhile, the Universal Fastener Company had morphed into the Fastener Manufacturing and Machine Company. That company morphed into the Automatic Hook and Eye Company, located in Meadville, Pennsylvania, which was created to sell Judson’s new device.

The new device was called the C-curity fastener, which went to market in 1905. C-curity was mostly marketed towards women, and as the name suggests, the device was meant to be more reliable. Unfortunately, C-curity was not the trustworthy device that its advertisements suggested. It gained a reputation for creating extremely embarrassing situations, popping open easily while the glider caught in place, making it impossible to close back up [8]. The item was mostly unsuccessful. As concerns grew over Judson’s soon-to-expire patents and the work of other inventors patenting similar devices, Gideon Sundback, a Swedish design engineer, came to work for the Automatic Hook and Eye Company. He came to America in 1905 and started working for the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company for a year until he joined Automatic Hook and Eye [9]. Sundback began by modifying Judson’s design, making the hook-and-eye connection more secure. He introduced the Plako in 1909 and marketed it towards dressmakers and for men’s trousers, where it enjoyed some success. However, the Plako also proved to be unreliable, not being flexible enough to stay closed when bent or twisted.

Sundback continued to work on improving the device. In 1912 he filed for a patent (later amended in 1917), removing the hook-and-eye system. The “hookless fastener,” later referred to as Hookless No. 1, used a slide to force one side of the fastener, made of cloth tape, into metal clamps on the other side [9]. However, the wear on the fabric tape proved to be too much, and the fastener could only be used a few times. Nevertheless, the company reorganized into the Hookless Fastener Company. In 1913 Sundback designed the Hookless No. 2, a radical departure from previous designs [10]. With Hookless No. 2, Sundback introduced the interlocking system used in the modern zipper. He changed the fasteners from hooks and eyes to small interlocking scoops. These scoops fit together tightly when joined by the slide and were easily released when separated by it [11]. After years of design, redesign, and development, there was finally a reliable product. However, before the slide fastener would become an integral part of daily life, there were years of marketing ahead of it.

______________________________________________________________ The following How It’s Made episode describes current manufacturing of the zipper. The section on the zipper starts at 0:43 seconds. Note that the narrator incorrectly refers to Gideon Sundback as Canadian. ______________________________________________________________ History of Clothing Fasteners - Buttons, Snaps, Zipper History, Velcro History, Schott Perfecto By Emily Singer In the past two decades, clothing -- what it’s made from and how it’s put together -- has gotten preeeeetty high-tech. Heat-sealed seams, magnetic zippers, and wicking fabrics have been developed to meet the changing needs of the average human, keeping us covered and comfortable. How we put and keep our clothing on, however, has remained more or less unchanged since man first felt shame. With few exceptions, the fasteners we use have remained stagnant for hundreds and hundreds of years. From the most archaic (buttons) to the most future-forward (VELCRO®), read on for the strapping story behind the buckle, and five others.

Flickr User Qiaomeng Button Then: Dating back to 2800 BCE in Ancient China and Rome, buttons were first used as ornamental details carved from seashells and stones, rather than fasteners. Functional buttons popped up in Germany during the 13th century thanks to the advent of the buttonhole, and by the start of the 14th century, buttons were used widely across Europe, due in part to the popularity of tight-fitting clothing. Early buttons were crafted by artisans from a range of luxury materials. We’re talkin’ porcelain, lacquer, filigree metal, daguerreotype photographs, and painted portrait miniatures, all made by hand. Now: Mass-produced from hard plastics, metal, wood, and seashells, buttons are commonplace on shirts and pants. The technology behind ‘em -- a stopper pushed through a slit, held in place by tension forces -- hasn’t changed in nearly 5000 years, making buttons the most archaic fastener ever. Seriously. Just think. You and everyone man from Charlemagne to Kim Jong-Il put on a shirt the exact same way: one button at a time.

Flickr User PeterReed Buckle Then: The word “buckle” has roots in the Latin "buccula", or cheek strap, which alludes to the straps that Roman soldiers used to keep body armor and helmets in place. Forged from bronze, early buckles were purely functional and used almost exclusively by soldiers. They also paved the way for military innovations: the buckle was integral to the construction of a baldric -- a leather belt slung diagonally across the shoulder, used to carry a sword more comfortably. Reserved for the wealthy until manufacturing techniques improved during the 15th century, early buckles were occasionally decorated with geometric ornaments or combat-related spirit animal motifs. Now: Buckles are found primarily on belts, bags, and coats, favored for the range of sizing options they allow. Made from metals, pearl, wood (especially during times of war and financial struggle), glass, and composite plastics like Bakelite, buckles may be pretty low-tech, but they were regarded as the best and most secure fastener until the advent of the zipper. Flickr User NicMcPhee Hook & Eye Then: Hook and eye closures first popped up in 14th century England on doublets and breeches as an invisible button of sorts.

Originally crafted by hand from wires, hook and eye closures have primarily been used in women’s clothing, specifically bras and corsets. Arranged in rows, they evenly distribute stress on restrictive garments to keep you from bustin' out of your seams. Now: While not patented until 1900 (and later updated in 1902), the hook and eye as we know it today was created during the 19th century by the Richardson & Delong Hook and Eye Company of Philadelphia. A small bump, called the Delong hump, was added to the wire hook to prevent the eye from slipping out, resulting in a more secure closure. Hook and eye closures still function as invisible buttons, and are still found primarily on women's clothing, namely skirts, dresses, and formal pants. Flickr User Noii Snap Then: While snaps didn’t proliferate until the late 1800s, early iterations of the snap fastener date back to 201 BC, namely on the horse halters of China’s Terracotta Army.

Built from two interlocking discs applied to fabric via rivets, the press stud, tich, popper, or snap (pick your poison) of today was invented for use on men's trousers by German inventor Heribert Bauer. Around the same time, however, Bertel Sanders of Denmark created a closure with an S-shaped spring that latched onto a groove, and Australian Myra Juliet Farrell built a stitchless “press stud”, so true credit for the invention is largely up in the air. Now: The fact that snaps incorporate rivets makes them more durable and less prone to ripping, but also allows for easy on-and-off (lookin’ at you, tear-away pants). Used on shirts, baby onesies, bags, jackets, and more, snaps range from well-hidden to ostentatious. Perhaps the most iconic application of snaps, however, is on the Western shirt. Clothing manufacturer Jack Weil put snaps on a Western-style shirt during the 1930s -- a style that became popular among rodeo cowboys, especially when those snaps were given pearl details during the ‘50s.

Flickr User JeffBR13 Zipper Then: The precursor to the zipper, the “Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure” was created in 1851 by Elias Howe, and while more like an elaborate drawstring than a zipper, it paved the way for the fastener we know today. Fast forward to 1893, when inventor of the pneumatic street railway, Whitcomb L. Judson of Chicago, created the “clasp locker” or “hookless fastener”. Judson’s invention debuted at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, but he never found a practical use for it. That changed with Gideon Sundback of the Goodrich Rubber Company modified Judson’s gadget, increasing the number of fastening devices (teeth, as we call them today) per inch, stuck ‘em on rubber boots, and called it a zipper for its onomatopoeic zzzzzzzip! sound. In 1925, the Schott leather company put a zipper on the instantly iconic Perfecto jacket and the fastener's practical applications took off.

During the 1930s, ad campaigns for children's clothing hailed the zipper as a self-reliance teaching tool among young'uns, empowering them to dress themselves. Now: Jackets, shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, bags, pants -- you name it, the zipper’s on it. Highly functional, easy to use, and fun to play with when anxious or bored, the zipper is the first true fastening machine. And in case you were wondering about those three YKK initials that are on most zippers -- that Japanese company controls a massive 45% of the market. Zipper Zipper a fastening device consisting of two parallel tracks of teeth or coils that can be interlocked by pulling a sliding piece The first device remotely resembling today's zipper was the "Automatic Continuous Clothing Closure," patented by Elias Howe in 1851. Howe never marketed his device, however, as he was too busy working on his sewing machine at the time. The next man to work on a closure system for clothing was Whitcomb L. Judson, an engineer from Chicago, who invented a "Clasp Locker or Unlocker for Shoes" in 1890.

This device had a slider that ran over a row of boot hooks, drawing them together. The slide could then be removed, turned around, and used to pull the clasps open. Judson applied for a patent on November 7, 1891, and it was finally granted on August 29, 1893. Judson first exhibited his "Clasp Locker" at the Chicago World's Fair , where it was received with little fanfare. In 1894 he established the Universal Fastener Company in Chicago to manufacture and market the device, but the fastener proved too cumbersome and unreliable and was never successful. By 1904 Judson had simplified his design into two rows of hooks and eyes, with each row attached to cloth tape. In 1905 he established the Automatic Hook and Eye Company in Hoboken, New Jersey, to market the "C-curity Fastener" to women, hoping they would use it on their skirts and dresses. Unfortunately, the "C-curity Fastener" was no more successful than the "Clasp Locker" had been. Judson died in 1909, before seeing his invention get improved enough to finally gain public acclaim.

The zipper as we now know it was developed by Gideon Sundback, a Swedish-American engineer employed by the Automatic Hook and Eye Company. Sundback first improved Judson's "C-curity Fastener" by changing the hook and eye mating to make the closure more secure. The "Plako Fastener," as he called it, was initially targeted at dressmakers, but was also used for men's trousers. Although a definite improvement, the device was still unreliable because it wasn't flexible enough to remain closed when bent or twisted. Sundback continued to work on his design, and eventually came up with his "Hookless #1," which used the slide to force one side of the fastener, made of cloth tape with a beaded edge, into metal clamps on the other side. Unfortunately, the cloth tape proved to be a weak point of the device because it tended to tear after only a few uses. The real breakthrough in zipper history came in 1913, when Sundback came up with the idea to fasten two rows of "scoop-shaped" teeth on opposing cloth tapes.

It took him a few more years to develop a practical sliding mechanism, but he finally patented the "Separable Fastener" on March 20, 1917. After developing the machines needed to mass-produce the device, he established the Hookless Fastener Company, based in Meadville, New Jersey. The first orders for the "Separable Fastener" came from the U.S. Army Air Service and the U.S. Navy. It first came to the public's attention in 1921, when the B.F. Goodrich company used them on a line of rubber galoshes, which were marketed as "Zipper Boots." Zippers were used primarily on boots and tobacco pouches for the first twenty years or so of their existence, but in the 1930's a sales campaign began for children's clothing featuring zippers, praising them for promoting self-reliance in children by making it possible for them to dress themselves.

Question: In 1871, Whitcome Judson created what - originally used for fastening shoes?
Answer: ZIPPER