August 25

[The Story Teller]

August 25
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The Zipper
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“Everyone excels in something in which another fails.”
—Publius Syrus
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Many inventions can be traced back to ancient Greece, Egypt, or Arabia. The toothbrush, cosmetics, the razor, and many other useful items were simply improved upon as technology advanced. The zipper is different, however. When Whitcomb Judson obtained a patent for his “clasp-locker” device in 1893, there was nothing to compare it to. Judson made boots and had invented a crude (by today’s standard) zipper to take the place of the buttons and shoelaces on high-top boots. Judson and his partner, Lewis Walker, attempted to promote the clasp at the 1893 World’s Fair, but no one was interested. The only substantial order they received was from the post office, but the bags equipped with the fastener jammed so often that they were soon discarded.



In 1913 an engineer named Gideon Sunback improved upon the original design and produced a fastener much like those in use today. First employed by the military, the device found its way to civilian clothing by the 1920s, but because of a rusting problem, the fastener had to be unstitched each time the garment was washed and then resewn. Zipper Boots, popular galoshes using the fastener, were introduced by Goodyear in 1923, and soon the fastener itself became known as a zipper. Steady improvements in the design and materials used to manufacture zippers made them a common part of clothing by the 1930s.



Consider This: Any good idea can be improved on. Just because an idea fails the first time it is applied is no reason to give up. If you don’t improve upon an idea, someone else probably will.



Submitted by Richard