The Zipper :: essays research papers

The zipper is a very common fastener used to secure all kinds of things, particularly clothing. But the zipper wasnt always around. Before the zipper was invented, buttons were used in fastening clothes, and so were hooks and eyes that had to be fastened manually. When the zipper graduation came out, it was somewhat of an oddity it wasnt widely accepted. But slowly, more and more people started noticing its convenient applications, and soon it could be seen everywhere. The zipper started off as a novelty, and because of its convenience, it is promptly a necessity.The first zipper was invented by Whitcomb Judson. He devised it to do up boots, and got the device patented on August 29, 1893. He called it the " clutch locker". The discover locker was much bulkier than the zipper we know today. It was a series of two rows of hooks and eyes that could be fastened by a "slider" (which was the about important part of Judsons invention). Another big difference from today s zipper is that after zipping up the fastener, the slider would detach right off the garment. Then to open the clasp locker, the slider would be re-attached at the top of the locked clasps, upside down, and then pulled down.About a year after the patents were issued, a close friend of Whitcomb Judson, named Harry Earle, and a lawyer named Lewis Walker met up with Judson, and they formed the Universal Fastening Company. They werent very successful. One of the main reasons was that the clasp locker didnt work very well. The fastener frequently jammed, and slow rusted. But in April of 1896, some Post Office Department representatives went to the company and inspected the Judson fastener on a mailbag and pronounced it satisfactory. Twenty mailbags equipped with the fasteners were ordered. That was mavin of the first orders Universal Fastening Company got, and it wasnt repeated. Its assumed that the mailbags were discarded due to faulty fasteners.While Judson tried to improve his fast ener, the company struggled to get customers. But soon they werent so worried about trying to sell it, and more worried about finding useful applications for it. In early promotion, it was described as a "twentieth century device". Also "remarkable in its simplicity, rapidity, security, utility". The fastener would be shown applied to skirt plackets, gloves, corsets, boots, shoes, and leggings. A little later in the decade, Judson came up with a new separable fastener, called the C-curity fastener, although its patent wasnt issued until 1905.