Zipper
Based on Wikipedia: Zipper
In the autumn of 1923, a small American company introduced a revolutionary new fastening device to the world—and gave it a name that would outlast the product itself. The B. F. Goodrich Company, best known for its rubber boots and galoshes, unveiled a strange new closure mechanism that could bind together two edges of fabric with a single hand motion. Executives called it "the zipper," after the zip—the quick upward movement—required to fasten their new line of rubber boots. The name stuck. Within years, the term spread across continents, languages, and countless articles of clothing.
But zippers didn't begin in 1923. The story starts much earlier, with a series of inventors wrestling with a deceptively simple problem: how do you reliably connect two pieces of fabric?
The First Attempts
Long before the modern zipper existed, there was Elias Howe. In 1851—this long before the zipper's era—Howe received a patent for what he called "an Improvement in Fastenings for Garments." His design was closer to an elaborate drawstring than anything we'd recognize as a zipper. He never seriously marketed it, and history nearly forgot him. Yet his vision pointed toward something genuine: automatic garment fasteners that could replace buttons and laces.
Four decades later, in 1892, Whitcomb L. Judson—an American inventor from Chicago—patented the original design that would eventually evolve into the modern device. Judson was no stranger to mechanical innovation; he held twelve patents for various mechanical devices, including improvements to motor systems and railway brake innovations. But his true ambition lay elsewhere.
In 1893, Judson secured a second patent through what he called his "clasp-locker" design, dated August 29th. His invention functioned—a hook-and-eye shoe fastener that replaced standard boot laces for both men and women—but it suffered from mechanical problems that caused frequent jamming. Working with his partner Lewis Walker, Judson implemented the device directly into their own boots. With backing from businessman Colonel Lewis Walker, they launched the Universal Fastener Company to manufacture this new device.
The clasp-locker made its public debut at Chicago's World's Fair in 1893, but met with little commercial success. The invention received minimal public attention—though Judson is sometimes given credit as the inventor of the zipper, his device was never used in clothing.
A Swedish-American Solution
The company moved to Hoboken, New Jersey in 1901, reorganized as the Fastener Manufacturing and Machine Company. Then it relocated to Meadville, Pennsylvania, where it operated for most of the twentieth century under the name Talon, Inc.
Gideon Sundbäck—a Swedish-American electrical engineer—joined the operation in 1906. Born in Sweden but later becoming an American citizen, Sundbäck began working to improve Judson's design. His work would prove transformative.
Sundbäck tackled the fundamental weakness of the original clasp-locker: durability. He redesigned the fastener, increasing the number of fastening elements from four per inch to ten or eleven—roughly one element every 2.5 millimeters instead of every 6.4 millimeters. He introduced 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.
In 1913, Sundbäck's improved zipper first went on sale. It was modest—still fragile—but represented a genuine leap forward.
By 1916, newspapers in Australia reported displays of what they called "the new hookless fastener"—a device from America that "the world has been waiting for," demonstrated by a live model in the store window of Raynor's of Melbourne. The description captured something essential: this was a closure mechanism that needed no buttons, no laces, just a simple slider.
In 1917, Sundbäck received his patent for what he called the "Separable Fastener." He also created the manufacturing machine for the new device—a remarkable piece of engineering called the "S-L" or "strapless" machine. This machine took a special Y-shaped wire and cut scoops from it, then punched each scoop's dimple and nib, clamping them onto cloth tape to produce a continuous zipper chain. Within the first year of operation, Sundbäck's machinery was producing a few hundred feet—around 100 meters—of fastener per day.
In March of that same year, Mathieu Burri, a Swiss inventor, improved the design further by adding a lock-in system attached to the last teeth. His version never entered production due to conflicting patents.
The Naming of a Device
In 1923, during a trip to Europe, Sundbäck sold his European rights to Martin Othmar Winterhalter, who improved the design using ribs and grooves instead of Sundbäck's joints and jaws. Winterhalter began producing with his company Riri—first in Germany, then Switzerland, on a large scale.
But it was American usage that fixed the name forever. The B. F. Goodrich Company used Gideon Sundbäck's fastener on their new line of rubber boots (or galoshes) and referred to it as "the zipper"—and the term stuck instantly. By 1923, two chief uses dominated: closing boots and tobacco pouches.
The name itself is onomatopoetic—the device makes that characteristic high-pitched zip when operated. The word captured something sensory and immediate.
How It Works
A zipper consists of a slider mounted on two rows of metal or plastic teeth, designed to interlock. The slider—usually operated by hand—contains a Y-shaped channel that, by moving along the rows of teeth, meshes or separates them depending on the direction of movement.
The teeth may be individually discrete or shaped from a continuous coil; professionals call these "elements." When closed completely, many jackets and similar garments are sealed shut when the slider reaches the top end. Some garments feature double-separating zippers with two sliders: when both are at opposite ends, the item is fully open; when next to each other—regardless of position along the tape—the zipper is fully closed.
In luggage and suitcases, two sliders allow partial opening: the section between them remains unfastened. Some jackets have lower sliders that can be raised to allow more comfortable sitting or bicycling.
Zippers serve multiple purposes beyond simple closure:
They can increase or decrease openings to allow or restrict passage of objects—think of trouser flies or pockets. They join or separate ends of a garment—in jackets, dresses, skirts—to facilitate dressing. They attach or detach separable parts: hoods from coats, trousers from shorts. Military rucksacks use zippers to attach smaller pouches to the sides.
These variations are achieved by sewing one end together, sewing both ends together, or allowing both ends to fall completely apart.
The Problem of Failure
Zippers cost relatively little to manufacture—but when they fail, repair can be quite difficult and expensive. Problems often lie with the slider itself: when worn, it fails to properly align and join the alternating teeth.
With separating zippers, the insertion pin may tear loose from the tape; the tape may disintegrate from use over time. When a zipper fails completely, it either jams—stuck in place—or partially breaks off. The result is a garment that cannot close, forcing repair or replacement.
In 1935, this technology was already everywhere: in clothing, luggage, camping gear like tents and sleeping bags, and countless other applications. Today, zippers come in an extraordinary range of sizes, shapes, and colors—yet the fundamental design remains almost exactly what Sundbäck crafted over a century ago.