WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Paperclips

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, welcome to the short Stuff. I'm Josh, there's Chuck

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<v Speaker 1>and Jerry's here for Dave. So this is an official

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<v Speaker 1>short stuff boom. I just stamped it with the official seal.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right, big thanks to thought Co, Gizmoto, slate signs,

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<v Speaker 2>American University of Michigan, Go Wolverines, University of Houston, Houston,

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<v Speaker 2>University of Houston, Go Cowgers.

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<v Speaker 1>Is it? Are they the cougars?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I'm pretty sure.

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<v Speaker 1>Huh. Are there a lot of cougars roaming around Houston?

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<v Speaker 2>You kidding me? They love they love those young guys.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, good to those kind of cougars. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Those are places where I found some pretty good resources

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<v Speaker 1>on the history of the paper clip, which when I

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<v Speaker 1>started on this I expected to be pretty straightforward. It

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<v Speaker 1>is not at all. I was thrilled and delighted to

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<v Speaker 1>find that the history of the paper clip is pretty convoluted.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a lot of bad information out there. We're going

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<v Speaker 1>to shuffle it all into place into a coherent, fact based,

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<v Speaker 1>conceptually amazing short stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I thought this is a really good one. This

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<v Speaker 2>is classic short stuff stuff. So before the paper clip,

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<v Speaker 2>and hey, I love a paper clip, but there ain't

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<v Speaker 2>nothing classier than making a slit in the top right

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<v Speaker 2>corner of a page and running some ribbon through there

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<v Speaker 2>to keep some paper together.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. The choices between ribbon are limitless.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and it just it looks so good.

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<v Speaker 1>For sure, And that's why people did that for centuries

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<v Speaker 1>and centuries and centuries. I don't remember exactly when that started,

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<v Speaker 1>but it was probably early medieval if I remember correctly.

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<v Speaker 1>And it wasn't until the late nineteenth century that paper

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<v Speaker 1>clips started to come along, and they weren't something that

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<v Speaker 1>was invented quite out of the gate, but not too

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<v Speaker 1>long after people started tinkering with this, did we arrive

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<v Speaker 1>at the paper clip as we understand it today.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, And it was one of those weird things that

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<v Speaker 2>a few different people just you know, not working together,

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<v Speaker 2>created a very similar thing at the same time or

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<v Speaker 2>around the same time. And the reason this happened seems

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<v Speaker 2>to be because making like needles and metal wire became

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<v Speaker 2>you know, they had the machinery to do this kind

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<v Speaker 2>of thing at this time, and people are like, hey,

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<v Speaker 2>what all can we do with little needles and little

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<v Speaker 2>pieces of wire besides using them for sewing?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, we're poking your eye up, Yeah, exactly. So. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>So apparently several men around the world in the last

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<v Speaker 1>couple decades of the nineteenth century saw a really good

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<v Speaker 1>use for mass produced wire was paper clips, or a

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<v Speaker 1>way to bind paper, I think is a better way

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<v Speaker 1>to put it. Some people really didn't. They just kind

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<v Speaker 1>of phoned it in. They're like, here, just chop it

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<v Speaker 1>off and jam this through the paper. And most people said,

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<v Speaker 1>we prefer the ribbon technique over that.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>But the guy who who really came the closest out

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<v Speaker 1>of the gate to inventing what we understand as the

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<v Speaker 1>paper clip, it's called the Jim paper clip. It was

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<v Speaker 1>a Norwegian man named Johann Vohler. I've also seen it

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<v Speaker 1>spelled v l e R so voler yeh.

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<v Speaker 2>Sure, and that's Jim capital g E M. And we'll

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<v Speaker 2>get to the naming of that in a second. But yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>he made a paper clip that didn't have the second

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<v Speaker 2>smaller oval inside the larger oval. It was just the

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<v Speaker 2>one larger outer oval. But he's credited. I mean, I

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<v Speaker 2>think there was a German newspaper in the nineteen twenties

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<v Speaker 2>that kind of misreported like him being the sole inventor

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<v Speaker 2>of the paper clip, and everyone now looks at him

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<v Speaker 2>as the inventor.

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<v Speaker 1>Of the paper clip, like around the world.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, for sure, he couldn't get a patent in Norway,

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<v Speaker 2>so we got them in Germany and the United States,

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<v Speaker 2>And this was in eighteen ninety nine and nineteen oh one.

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<v Speaker 2>But everybody around the world calls him the inventor, even

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<v Speaker 2>though there were at least a couple of people a

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<v Speaker 2>couple of few decades before that invented a paper clip.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, both Americans. One guy was Samuel B. Fay. He

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<v Speaker 1>seems to be the first one to've invented a bent

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<v Speaker 1>wire paper clip, or at least he was the first

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<v Speaker 1>to patent it back in eighteen sixty seven. Okay, there's

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<v Speaker 1>a guy named Earlman J. Wright. In eighteen seventy seven,

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<v Speaker 1>he got a patent for an improvement on Fay's bent

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<v Speaker 1>wire paper clip and Samuel Fay's paper clip. You know

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<v Speaker 1>those awareness lapel pins that people wear for all sorts

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<v Speaker 1>of different stuff. Yeah, that's what his paper clip looked like.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think they're still kind of around today. So

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<v Speaker 1>you would call that a Fay paper clip, I would

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<v Speaker 1>or Sam B.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, tust me a Sam bn, I need to get

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<v Speaker 2>these papers clips exactly.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to poke my eye out.

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<v Speaker 2>So have you what does the deal with that? Have

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<v Speaker 2>you ever poked your eye out with a paper clip?

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<v Speaker 1>Anytime I think of So, there's a couple of things.

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<v Speaker 1>Anytime I think of like a just a sharp, pointy something, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>cry out okay. And then anytime I see like a

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<v Speaker 1>hearth made of stone or brick, I always imagine some

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<v Speaker 1>poor kid just stumbling and cracking their head open on

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<v Speaker 1>that car. Also anything with a really sharp corner too,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't like that at all.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, but you don't have like a compulsion like if

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<v Speaker 2>you have a pointy thing, you're not like, don't do it.

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<v Speaker 1>Josh, No, no, I don't. I don't feel the call

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<v Speaker 1>of the void forshing my head into the edge of

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<v Speaker 1>a coffee table.

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<v Speaker 2>It's opposite. You're cautious.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Have you ever seen those those bumper pads that

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<v Speaker 1>people put on the corner of coffee tables when they

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<v Speaker 1>have kids.

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<v Speaker 2>I had a kid, so yeah, we had plenty of those.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, that's the reason why, because it's possible. It's not

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<v Speaker 1>just me being crazy, like that's possible.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't think that's an unusual fear.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, Well that's where my paper clip thing comes from.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, gotcha. So back to the gym paper clip Capital

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<v Speaker 2>J I'm sorry, I just did it. Capital Gem. It's

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<v Speaker 2>named that because they were made on the behalf of

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<v Speaker 2>the gym manufacturing company that was in the UK, and

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<v Speaker 2>this was an eighteen ninety nine and a Connecticut man

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<v Speaker 2>named William Middlebrook came up with this was it? With

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<v Speaker 2>the design or the machine?

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<v Speaker 1>The machine to make them?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, because the long and short of it is, no

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<v Speaker 2>one like Middlebrook didn't and the gym company didn't pat

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<v Speaker 2>in the actual paper clip. They patented the machine that

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<v Speaker 2>made him. So anybody that's making a GEM style paper

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<v Speaker 2>clip from that point on could just do it if

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<v Speaker 2>they had the resources.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, which is one reason why when we think of

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<v Speaker 1>paper clips today, we think of Gem paper clips because

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<v Speaker 1>they are worldwide, they're made everywhere. You don't have to

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<v Speaker 1>pay any royalties. You never had to pay any royalties

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<v Speaker 1>with them. So the paper clip, we think of the

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<v Speaker 1>two ovals, one inside of the other. That's the GEM

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<v Speaker 1>paper clip. And I'm glad you keep spelling it out

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<v Speaker 1>because I'm sure people would be confused and think that

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<v Speaker 1>you were talking about the truly, truly, truly outrageous rocker

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<v Speaker 1>girl Jim her paper clip. I think people would be

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<v Speaker 1>very misled had you not set them straight.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh gooy, Since you mentioned that, I think we need

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<v Speaker 2>to shout out Britta Phillips.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, how so what?

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<v Speaker 2>I'm pretty sure that Britta Phillips, who is the bass

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<v Speaker 2>player of one of my favorite all time bands, Luna,

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<v Speaker 2>and married to Dean Wareham and Dean's brother Anthony, is

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<v Speaker 2>a listener to the show. Wow, this came full circle. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>so shout out to Anthony and Dean and Britta. Because

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<v Speaker 2>Britta played Oh no, it wasn't g It was.

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<v Speaker 1>J E M. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>The cartoon Jim and the Holograms.

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<v Speaker 1>Who did she play? She played Jim.

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<v Speaker 2>She played Jim.

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<v Speaker 1>She voiced Jim oh oh on the actual cartoon. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>that was a good cartoon. I actually watched that when

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<v Speaker 1>I was a kid.

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<v Speaker 2>I really struggle with that. But anyway, shout out to Dean,

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<v Speaker 2>Britta and Anthony.

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<v Speaker 1>Nice. I think we should take a break, man, we

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<v Speaker 1>haven't yet.

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<v Speaker 2>No, let's do it.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, here we go.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, So back to the gym paper clip you know,

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<v Speaker 2>the sort of regular size one, not the tiny one

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<v Speaker 2>and not the giant ones, is about an inch can

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<v Speaker 2>hold supposedly about twenty sheets of regular paper, pretty well,

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<v Speaker 2>about twenty billion or made every year, and Americans apparently

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<v Speaker 2>use eleven billion of those. And you pointed out very

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<v Speaker 2>astutely that paper clips are used obviously to bind paper,

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<v Speaker 2>but those things can be undone and used most often

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<v Speaker 2>to poke the little reset buttons in a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>technology hardware. Back in the day, if you wanted to

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<v Speaker 2>open your CD ROM tray if it was stuck, you

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<v Speaker 2>would use that. In elementary sco cool. I don't know

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<v Speaker 2>if you did this, but you could unfold it and

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<v Speaker 2>make it into something that when you drop it pops

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<v Speaker 2>up in the air.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh I was never able to do that, but yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you would bend it in such a way that

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<v Speaker 2>it's like a bear trap or something. You know, it's like,

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, I know there's a word for this, but

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<v Speaker 2>and we would have contests to see who could make

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<v Speaker 2>their pop the highest.

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<v Speaker 1>Nice. You could also shoot them pretty far with a

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<v Speaker 1>rubber band and particularly take someone's eye out.

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<v Speaker 2>That's, oh man, your biggest fear.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, So one of the things about the gem paper

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<v Speaker 1>clip is it's been around for one hundred and twenty

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<v Speaker 1>five years. At least, it's been virtually the same for

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred and twenty five years. So there's probably a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of people walking around thinking like, well, it's a

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<v Speaker 1>perfect thing. It is a perfect design, can't be improved on,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is just so wrong. Shouldn't even say that

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<v Speaker 1>out loud?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean, if you've ever had a tangle boot

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<v Speaker 2>box of paper clips, you know the frustration that comes

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<v Speaker 2>with that. If you've ever you know, had one out

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<v Speaker 2>in moisture, you know that they can rust and rust

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<v Speaker 2>that paper usually not a big deal, but if it's

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<v Speaker 2>an important paper, you don't want rust on that thing.

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<v Speaker 1>No what else? We also chuck the cut end of

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<v Speaker 1>the wire can poke through the paper. It can poke

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<v Speaker 1>your eye. It can poke. Is the big problem with

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<v Speaker 1>that one. Yeah, very poky. And then also like eventually,

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<v Speaker 1>if you stuck too many sheets of paper in there

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<v Speaker 1>and they stretch out too wide, or you make a

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<v Speaker 1>bear trap out of one, it's not going to hold

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<v Speaker 1>any papers from that point on.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and all of this has culminated, and this is

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<v Speaker 2>very funny to me that companies that make these, they

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<v Speaker 2>say they get like, you know, up to ten letters

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<v Speaker 2>a week still where people are like, you know how

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<v Speaker 2>you could fix these things?

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<v Speaker 1>Right? I'm sure. I mean imagine being a person who's like,

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<v Speaker 1>I got it. I just figured out how to keep

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<v Speaker 1>people from poking themselves in the eye with a gem

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<v Speaker 1>paper clip. Of course, you're going to write a letter,

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<v Speaker 1>and then you'd probably be pretty sad to get the

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<v Speaker 1>letter back saying like that's a great idea, but what

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<v Speaker 1>about this problem and that problem that you've just created

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<v Speaker 1>with your stupid design. That was the standard letter that

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<v Speaker 1>you would get back from Jim paper Clip company.

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<v Speaker 2>I love it. Shout out a couple of other kinds

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<v Speaker 2>of paper clips that for me, I don't want to

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<v Speaker 2>yuck someone' jump, but if you hand me these, I'm

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<v Speaker 2>just going to throw this paper back in your face.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh wow, if you have the nerve to walk up

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<v Speaker 2>with one of those spiral paper clips in the corner,

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<v Speaker 2>the round ones, uh huh no, thank you, okay, or

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know if this is the official name, but

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<v Speaker 2>I saw them called regal paper clips. They're the ones

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<v Speaker 2>that are they're rectangles and then dangling down in the center,

0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:38.360
<v Speaker 2>which is the binder is it looks like a couple

0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:43.719
<v Speaker 2>of pool cube balls on a string. Okay, that's the

0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:47.880
<v Speaker 2>non crude way to describe it. Oh, I see, you

0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:50.120
<v Speaker 2>know what I'm talking about. But I'll text you a

0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:52.600
<v Speaker 2>picture of the regal paper clip and you'd be like, oh, yeah, those.

0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:55.480
<v Speaker 1>Things oh weird. Yeah, well, there are some that are

0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:59.280
<v Speaker 1>improved versions, right, they just haven't caught on, Like the

0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:02.560
<v Speaker 1>gem clip. There's one called the gothic clip, and it

0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:05.760
<v Speaker 1>inverts its angles inward so that when you slide it

0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.760
<v Speaker 1>onto the paper, there's no way to poke through the paper.

0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:12.520
<v Speaker 1>And it's so good that typically it's used by archivists.

0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:16.080
<v Speaker 1>If you're going to bind paper together and you're an archivist,

0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:18.839
<v Speaker 1>you're probably going to use a gothic clip, although I

0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:21.360
<v Speaker 1>would think also in that industry you do not want

0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:23.040
<v Speaker 1>to use a paper clip at all.

0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:28.160
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you want to tie classy ribbon through that thing.

0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:30.880
<v Speaker 1>They'd be like, you just carved a hole in the

0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:32.520
<v Speaker 1>Declaration of Independence.

0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.200
<v Speaker 2>I looked up gothic clip, and I mean, you type

0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:38.760
<v Speaker 2>those two words together, you're gonna end up with a

0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:42.240
<v Speaker 2>lot of weird results on the images because of goths

0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:43.760
<v Speaker 2>and stuff like. There were a lot of gothic hair

0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:46.319
<v Speaker 2>clips and things like that. But was it the one

0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:49.319
<v Speaker 2>that kind of is shaped like a coffin or with

0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:49.840
<v Speaker 2>those just.

0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:54.640
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, okay, no, it has like inverted angles, yes, yeah, okay,

0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:57.959
<v Speaker 1>the gothic clip. I don't know. Maybe that's why they

0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:01.080
<v Speaker 1>call it that, I mean, I assume. So well, let's

0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:04.640
<v Speaker 1>talk a little bit more about Johann Vuhler in Norway,

0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:08.480
<v Speaker 1>because we should say, if you're a Norwegian listener, you're

0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:10.600
<v Speaker 1>probably kind of mad at us right now for saying

0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:13.640
<v Speaker 1>that he didn't invent the paper clip. It seems to

0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:16.560
<v Speaker 1>be true. We're very sorry for saying that. But the

0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:20.640
<v Speaker 1>reason that our Norwegian listeners are mad everybody is that

0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:24.920
<v Speaker 1>he is a national hero in Norway for inventing the

0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:25.640
<v Speaker 1>paper clip.

0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:28.560
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, didn't know paper clips were such a big deal there,

0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:31.720
<v Speaker 2>but apparently, and this is super kind of fun fact,

0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:36.680
<v Speaker 2>during the Nazi occupation there in World War Two, Norwegian

0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:40.280
<v Speaker 2>citizens wore paper clips as sort of a sign of

0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:41.679
<v Speaker 2>unity and resistance.

0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:45.000
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, one of the few fun facts that involved Nazis.

0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:46.280
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, agreed.

0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:50.320
<v Speaker 1>There's also a twenty three foot statue seven meters for

0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:53.720
<v Speaker 1>our friends outside of the US and Liberia of a

0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:56.920
<v Speaker 1>paper clip in honor of Alor. It's at the BI

0:13:57.040 --> 0:14:00.559
<v Speaker 1>Business School in Oslo. The thing is, it's not a

0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.680
<v Speaker 1>Volor paper clip. It's a gem clip with a squared

0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:06.479
<v Speaker 1>off bottom.

0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:07.640
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, which is very strange. And that was the same

0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:10.000
<v Speaker 2>one they used on the postage stamp that they commemorated

0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:11.760
<v Speaker 2>for him in Norway in nineteen ninety nine.

0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:14.760
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so I guess everybody just kind of dusted the

0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:18.040
<v Speaker 1>original version under their rug and they're like, it's a

0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:18.880
<v Speaker 1>Voler clip.

0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:19.960
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:23.200
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Well, thanks a lot everybody for joining us. We

0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:25.760
<v Speaker 1>don't have anything more to say about paper clips, which

0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:26.960
<v Speaker 1>means that short stuff is.

0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:32.640
<v Speaker 2>At Stuff you should Know is a production of iHeartRadio.

0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:36.400
<v Speaker 2>For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:44.480
<v Speaker 2>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.