The Small Invention That Holds Everything Together

1Look at your clothes, your school bag or your pencil case. There is a good chance that at least one of them has a zipper. Today we hardly notice this small object, but it took inventors more than sixty years to turn the idea into something that worked.

2The story begins in 1851, when Elias Howe, the American inventor famous for his work on the sewing machine, received a patent for a kind of 'continuous clothing closure'. However, Howe was busy with his sewing machines, and he never tried to sell his new idea. As a result, most people never heard about it.

3More than forty years later, in 1893, another American, Whitcomb Judson, patented a device he called a 'clasp locker'. It used a series of hooks and was meant mainly for closing shoes and boots. Unfortunately, it was heavy, it was difficult to use, and it often opened by itself. Very few people bought it.

4The real breakthrough came from Gideon Sundback, an engineer who had moved to the United States from Sweden and worked for Judson's company. In 1913, he designed a much better version. Instead of hooks, it had small metal teeth that fit tightly together when a slider moved over them. This design was strong, light and reliable, and it is basically the one we still use today.

5Even then, the invention did not have its famous name. In the 1920s it was used on rubber boots, and people began calling it a 'zipper' because of the sound it made. At first, zippers appeared mostly on boots and bags. Only later did they become common on clothes such as jackets, trousers and children's clothing.

6The zipper's story teaches an important lesson: a good idea is only the beginning. Sometimes it takes many people and many years of improvement before an invention changes everyday life.