1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy Wilson. Uh So. Historian 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:22,439 Speaker 1: Robert Friedell wrote a book about zippers back in which 5 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:25,239 Speaker 1: I recently read, and a line in the introduction to 6 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: that book really struck me, which was, while zippers are 7 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: used everywhere, they are almost never necessary. And I recoiled initially, 8 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 1: we need zippers everywhere, but really you could find an 9 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: alternate way to do almost everything that a zipper does. 10 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: But they're so convenient and handy that, of course they 11 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:49,519 Speaker 1: have become ubiquitous throughout everyone's wardrobes. But without trying to 12 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: throw anyone under the bus. That quote, it's kind of 13 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: how I feel about most write ups about the invention 14 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: of the zipper, because it's one of those things I 15 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:00,040 Speaker 1: of course so a lot. So I have done a 16 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: lot of thinking about zippers and how they work and 17 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: wonder where they came from. But if you look at 18 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:07,759 Speaker 1: any right up, if you just you know, do an 19 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: Internet search and say who invented the zipper? You get 20 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: to maybe three paragraphs, and it's really really glossing over 21 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: a lot of stuff. Um, there's a lot of story here, 22 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: So I thought today might be a good time to 23 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,679 Speaker 1: delve into the oddly arduous creation of this simple thing 24 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: that we almost all have on our clothes and our 25 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:32,959 Speaker 1: handbags and our luggage, etcetera. Zippers. Now that I think 26 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:38,040 Speaker 1: about it, they are in so many locations besides just 27 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:43,320 Speaker 1: my jeans. Uh. In eighteen fifty one, Alias How, who 28 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,680 Speaker 1: we talked about forever ago in Our Sewing Machine episode, 29 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: filed for a patent on an automatic continuous clothing closure. 30 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: If you look at the patent sketches, it really looks 31 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: like a zipper, but it's also a little misleading. His vice, 32 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: which he described as a series of clasps united by 33 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: a connecting cord, was really more like a spiral drawstring 34 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: that was pre laced through clasps on either side of 35 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: that opening that needed to be closed, So when you 36 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: pulled on the draw string, it pulled the two sides 37 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: together and closed it up. If you've ever seen a 38 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: spiral laced corset, it's kind of the same idea, but 39 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: on a smaller scale. You may recall that at one 40 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 1: point in his career, Elias How traveled to England to 41 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: make machines specifically intended for corset making. That was just 42 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: a few years before he filed this patent, so it's 43 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,839 Speaker 1: possible that he was inspired by that connection. We don't 44 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,519 Speaker 1: really know how didn't pursue the development of this though, 45 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: because he became too busy working on sewing machines. But 46 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: to really get into zippers in their origins, we have 47 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,239 Speaker 1: to talk about a few other men, and the first 48 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: of those is Whitcomb L. Judson, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, 49 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:02,360 Speaker 1: on Marche. We don't have a whole lot of details 50 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: about his personal life. We have virtually none about his youth. 51 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: We know that while he was still a teenager, he 52 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: enlisted with the Union Army and he was part of 53 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: the Illinois Infantry Regiment in the US Civil War. He 54 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: earned an undergraduate degree at Knox College, a liberal arts 55 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: college in Galsburg, Illinois, and his details from there are 56 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: pretty sparse until he appears in a Minneapolis, Minnesota directory 57 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty six. And in that directory, his profession 58 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: is simply listed as traveling agent i e. Like a 59 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: traveling salesman, with no indication as to who his employer was. 60 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: His story can be pieced together a bit through his 61 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: business relationship with another man, Harry Earl. In Earl started 62 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: his own company, Earl Manufacturing Company, and Whitcomb was an employee, 63 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: working initially as a salesman. Before founding that company, Harry 64 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: Earl had worked for Pitts Agricultural Works, so it's been 65 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: theorized that's where the two men met as employees. In 66 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: any case, once he was working for Harry Earle, Whitcomb 67 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: Judson started working not just on sales but on inventions, 68 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: and his first big effort in invention was in designing 69 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:17,279 Speaker 1: a pneumatic street railway. He actually received a total of 70 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 1: fourteen patents related to the project over the course of 71 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: just a few years. But he didn't revolutionize urban to 72 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: suburban transportation as he had hoped because the system just 73 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: didn't really work that well, and by the time he 74 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: did start to really make progress on it, electric lines 75 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: had surpassed what he had hoped to do. But that 76 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: whole effort, including starting a company called Judson Pneumatic Street 77 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:45,040 Speaker 1: Railway Company, gave him a lot of experience in the 78 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: ins and outs of trying to innovate in a technological space. 79 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: In Whitcomb Judson invented an item called a clasp blocker. 80 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 1: This was intended to be used in shoots, although Judson 81 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,159 Speaker 1: was clear that it could be applied so many things 82 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,159 Speaker 1: that needed closures, including mail bags and gloves. This was 83 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: essentially a set of hooks and eyes that had a 84 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: slider that moved the hooks into position to fasten them, 85 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: although exactly how this whole thing is supposed to have 86 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:16,560 Speaker 1: worked as a little unclear. The description in the patent 87 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:22,039 Speaker 1: mentions clasps which have quote underreaching and overlapping projections or 88 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: lips at their forward ends, which prevent the engagement or 89 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: disengagement of the hook portions of the clasps, except when 90 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: thrown upward, so that the parts stand at an angle 91 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: to each other of about ninety degrees. I can't really 92 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: visualize what that means. A little confusing even looking at diagrams, 93 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: I was like, would come what. It was listed in 94 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: Scientific American as one of the patents issued on August 95 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,479 Speaker 1: twenty nine, and it was actually two patents because Judson 96 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: had refined his idea and submitted a second patent application 97 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 1: before the first one was granted, But the two patents 98 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,480 Speaker 1: ended up being issued on the same day. We don't 99 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,919 Speaker 1: know what sparked this idea or what inspired his design. 100 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 1: He had moved to Chicago at this time from New York, 101 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: where he and Earl had been working on the pneumatic 102 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: travel system. We also don't know why he moved. The 103 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: two men remained close friends and business associates. Though. Yeah, 104 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: they had seemed so all in on trying to connect 105 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: like the more populated parts of New York to more 106 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,640 Speaker 1: rural parts with this travel thing, and then as I 107 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:33,839 Speaker 1: think they realized it wasn't gonna happen, Whitcomb moved on. Uh. 108 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: He did take his fastener to the World's Fair in 109 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: Chicago that year to show it to the world. It 110 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: did not really get a lot of buzz there, but 111 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,279 Speaker 1: Whitcomb Judson felt that there was potential for his fastener, 112 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:49,280 Speaker 1: and in four he and Harry Earl founded the Universal 113 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: Fastener Company along with several investors. Just prior to the 114 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:58,440 Speaker 1: company being officially founded, Judson filed two more patent applications 115 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 1: for his fastener, one for a more effective slider and 116 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:04,919 Speaker 1: one for the fasteners on each side of the closure. 117 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: Prior to this, the teeth of the fastener were items 118 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: that were not permanently affixed to the item being closed. 119 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:16,120 Speaker 1: They were individual pieces that slid kind of through the buttonholes. 120 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: But this new patent called for permanently attached clasps and 121 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: offered a number of ways that they might work to 122 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: fit together, including alternating from side to side as they 123 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: fit together with what Judson called pin piles and sockets. 124 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: This is starting to sound a lot more like a zipper. 125 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: In the first manufacture efforts of Universal Fastener Company were 126 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: made in a workshop owned by the Bride and Horseshoe Company. 127 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: The first working version and working goes in air quotes 128 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: because it apparently did not work, at least not consistently. 129 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: First working versions were made affixed to mailbags. If the 130 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: company could get a government contract, it could fund a 131 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: larger effort to move into the home consumer goods market. 132 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: The Postal Service did place an order for twenty bags 133 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: that had Dunson's closure. There were never any additional orders 134 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: placed after that, though. That's like the saddest trombone part 135 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: of this story for me. They had to have felt 136 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: so excited that they had a government order and then 137 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: it was like, no, no thanks, that's now these are 138 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: these are done so they're not really working for us. 139 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: As Universal Fastener struggled, Harry Earle struck a deal for 140 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,679 Speaker 1: the company to be acquired by the Allyria Fastener Company 141 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: in Allria, Ohio. But Wickham Judson had reached a plateau 142 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:42,080 Speaker 1: where his proclivities as an inventor couldn't keep up with 143 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:46,319 Speaker 1: the knowledge that he needed to actually manufacture these designs, 144 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: and things went pretty badly. The entire Alliria company ended 145 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: up being liquidated in nineteen o one, and at that 146 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: point Harry Earle gained the rights to the Universal Fastener patents, 147 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,439 Speaker 1: so Earle once again found investor and launched the Fastener 148 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:06,680 Speaker 1: Manufacturing and Machine Company. This new iteration of their business venture, 149 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: which was based in New Jersey, aggressively advertised the merits 150 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: of Judson's closure invention, which they simply called the Fastener. 151 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: They advertised it in print and touted a wider variety 152 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 1: of uses than had even been suggested before. They said 153 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 1: this could go on everything from corsets to leggings, two shoes, 154 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,360 Speaker 1: and boots. In nineteen o four, the company re orged 155 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: under the name Automatic Hook and Eye Company. This reflected 156 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 1: another change in the design of the fastener, which then 157 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: went by the new name of the Cecurity Fastener. That's 158 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: a sea dash c U r I t y spelling, 159 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:47,679 Speaker 1: which is an awkward brand name in my opinion. At 160 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:51,600 Speaker 1: this point, the advertising leaned into the women's clothing market, 161 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 1: and most of the print material focused on how much 162 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:58,079 Speaker 1: easier it was going to be to fasten skirt plackets. 163 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 1: That seems like they were onto something, and they were, 164 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: But the fastener still needed some work, and we will 165 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:06,920 Speaker 1: talk about its problems after we paused for a quick 166 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: sponsor break. While things were moving forward for Judson's invention, 167 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: there were still some pretty obvious problems. The security fasteners 168 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: sometimes jammed up. Also, so ASTs needed instructions on how 169 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,960 Speaker 1: to stitch them into garments, and worst of all, in 170 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: my opinion, if you wanted to launder the garment, you 171 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:40,359 Speaker 1: had to remove the fastener, wash it, and then reinstall 172 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: that fastener once the skirt or dress was clean, because 173 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: while they did have a coating, they were still prone 174 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 1: to rust. Additionally, these fasteners were expensive. They went to 175 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:54,000 Speaker 1: market at thirty five cents at a time when a 176 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: basic skirt was about seventy seven cents. In the Sears 177 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: Robot catalog, dressmakers and resellers could get bulk discounts, but 178 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: even so, a closure for a garment costing one quarter 179 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:08,560 Speaker 1: to one half of the value of the overall article 180 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:11,600 Speaker 1: of clothing, it was just a lot like For comparison, 181 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: that would be like purchasing a pair of button fly 182 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 1: jeans today for eighty dollars and then having a company 183 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 1: tell you that you're already perfectly functioning garment would cost 184 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:25,320 Speaker 1: another thirty dollars to modernize to a new closure. Most 185 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:28,000 Speaker 1: people would skip that offer, and in the early nine 186 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: hundreds most people did just that. By nine six, Harry 187 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: Earle had left the company Whitcom. Judson soon extricated himself 188 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 1: from the business as well. These two men had been 189 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,760 Speaker 1: trying to manufacture and market Judson's bastener for more than 190 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 1: a decade. At that point, with several restarts, it was 191 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:51,319 Speaker 1: just not happening. Judson had also moved on creatively to 192 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 1: working on inventions related to the new technology of automobiles. 193 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: He was working on an early combustion engine and had 194 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:01,440 Speaker 1: decided to move to miss Schigan to be near his son. 195 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:06,560 Speaker 1: Skirt closures were just no longer holding his attention. The 196 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 1: automatic hook and eye company continued without the two men 197 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 1: who had catalyzed its founding, though, and that same year 198 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: that they left, a new figure entered the picture who 199 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,960 Speaker 1: was key to the development of the zipper, and that 200 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: was Gideon Sundback Otto Friedrich. Gideon Sundback was born in 201 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: small On, Sweden on a Details about his early life 202 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,959 Speaker 1: are a little sparse. We know he studied engineering at 203 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,319 Speaker 1: bing In and received his degree in nineteen o three. 204 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 1: Once you finished schooling, he moved briefly to Germany before 205 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 1: deciding to head to the US. And he was in 206 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: a good position to do so. The family had money, 207 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: so moving to a new country wasn't really that much 208 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,200 Speaker 1: of a gamble. Yeah. One of the books that I 209 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,319 Speaker 1: read was like, sometimes you will see people acting like 210 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 1: this is you know, the classic like poor immigrant story 211 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 1: trying to find a new life, and it's like, No, 212 00:12:58,040 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: he was a wealthy kid who thought like, oh, I 213 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: can go make my fortune here in this other place. 214 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:06,680 Speaker 1: Not quite the same. He arrived in North American nineteen 215 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 1: o five and headed for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was 216 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:14,320 Speaker 1: employed as a tracer at Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. 217 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 1: That job is exactly what it sounds like he was 218 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:21,040 Speaker 1: tracing engineering drawings and schematics to make copies, but he 219 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: was soon promoted to a draftsman position, and he worked 220 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 1: in that role for about a year. Through various contacts, 221 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:31,040 Speaker 1: someone mentioned sun Back to Frank Russell in nineteen o six. 222 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: At the time, Russell was the president of Automatic Hook 223 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: and Eye Company. The company executive had realized that what 224 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:41,520 Speaker 1: they needed to make the security fastener really work in 225 00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:45,080 Speaker 1: a way that was reliable and affordable was an engineer, 226 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:50,440 Speaker 1: and so Automatic recruited Sunback. Reading about this offer and move, 227 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 1: it seems almost like people who had looked at Sunback's 228 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,439 Speaker 1: qualifications and his job at Westinghouse or left scratching their 229 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,440 Speaker 1: heads about why they would take a position at this 230 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 1: flown during company in Hoboken with a fundamentally flawed product 231 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:08,560 Speaker 1: background made that kind of a question mark decision. Uh 232 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: he did take the job, though possibly just for the challenge. 233 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,000 Speaker 1: There's also been speculation that part of that decision for 234 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:17,640 Speaker 1: the move was because he had met a young woman 235 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: named Elvira Aaronson on his first visit to Hoboken when 236 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:23,640 Speaker 1: he toured the factory, and that he had been quite 237 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: taken with her. And those two did eventually marry, and 238 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:30,800 Speaker 1: we know that because her father was involved in Automatic 239 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 1: as an executive. Elvira Aaronson was around the company a lot. 240 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:37,920 Speaker 1: She actually worked in the factory and she sometimes modeled 241 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: garments that the company's closures were sewn into. And these 242 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 1: two started seeing each other almost immediately after. Sundback moved 243 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:49,200 Speaker 1: to New Jersey, and he had Elvira, who he called Vira, 244 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,320 Speaker 1: help him perfect his English, which was by all accounts 245 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: already quite good. There's some people that were like, you 246 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: don't actually need English lessons. So if he had been 247 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 1: drawn to the job because of the potential to spend 248 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:04,360 Speaker 1: time with her, that absolutely worked out. But the reasoning 249 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: for his move from Westinghouse is still speculation. We really 250 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: don't know if he moved to be with her or not. 251 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,160 Speaker 1: The timing of his hire meant that Sunback was joining 252 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: Automatic hook and Eye just as Harry Earl and Whitcomb 253 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: Judson were leaving. There was a brief period of overlap. 254 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 1: Gideon later described Whitcomb as a man who invented something 255 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 1: every night, but soon he was gone and Sunback settled 256 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 1: in to try to understand Judson's invention and where it 257 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: was going wrong, and he quickly identified a few issues. One, 258 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:39,720 Speaker 1: when a woman was wearing a skirt with a security 259 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:43,080 Speaker 1: closure on it, the fastener would often pop open if 260 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: she moved in a way that applied any tension across it. 261 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,520 Speaker 1: He realized that if just one of the interlocking pieces 262 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:53,200 Speaker 1: was moved askew through pretty much more normal motion of 263 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,960 Speaker 1: the wearer, the whole thing would come undone. So obviously 264 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 1: not good at all. It does the work getting Him's 265 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: first pass at a solution was something he called a 266 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: placo fastener. This was more flexible, so that a person 267 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 1: could bend or twist in a normal day to day 268 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: way without popping the whole thing apart. This one's a 269 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: market in nineteen o eight. But the more flexible eyes 270 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:22,120 Speaker 1: that sun Back had designed were also bulkier. They could 271 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 1: be rendered entirely useless forever if any fabric got caught 272 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,480 Speaker 1: in them, and then from a production standpoint, they were 273 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:31,360 Speaker 1: expensive in part because once a placao had come off 274 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: the production line, workers had to open and close it 275 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: repeatedly to primeate. So like wear down any ridges that 276 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 1: would cause it to stick. It's not very efficient process. No, 277 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 1: that's a lot of man hours just to get one 278 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: function enclosure out the door. Still, they marketed the heck 279 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:52,440 Speaker 1: out of that Placau fastener, and one of the big 280 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: points in the sales pitch was that at last, a 281 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:57,400 Speaker 1: lady could fasten her garments at the back of the 282 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: waist securely with no help, but they needed help sewing 283 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,560 Speaker 1: them into clothes. It seemed that everyone had trouble with 284 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:09,679 Speaker 1: that step. Complaints became so frequent that the company started 285 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 1: offering customers the option to send their garments in with 286 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 1: their Placo fastener, which would then be stitched in at 287 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:19,439 Speaker 1: the factory and then sent back to that customer ready 288 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: to wear. That seems like a huge money pit. Now 289 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,600 Speaker 1: we need a sewing division to fix all these problems. 290 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:32,879 Speaker 1: The ongoing issues once again led to financial problems for 291 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: American Hook and I, and Sunback found himself not only 292 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: negotiating with creditors on behalf the company, but also expanding 293 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,080 Speaker 1: their product line and taking side projects just to keep 294 00:17:43,119 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: cash coming in. Things became bad enough that the company 295 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,600 Speaker 1: could not afford to pay Sunback and instead gave him 296 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,399 Speaker 1: all the patent rights to the various fasteners that the 297 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 1: company had. This is another thing that leaves a lot 298 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,119 Speaker 1: of people going why was this man who had an 299 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: engineering degree and could have gone almost anywhere he wanted 300 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 1: so invested in this company that he would literally take 301 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: side jobs and be like, yeah, I'll do this engineering 302 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: as a freelance contractor for you so that I can 303 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:16,160 Speaker 1: give that money to my boss. Like it's a little weird. 304 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: But by nineteen o nine, sunback, it turned out, probably 305 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 1: because of that, was really running the company and he 306 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 1: did briefly manage to turn around the money situation there. 307 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: He also sought to expand the company into international markets. 308 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,600 Speaker 1: He and his at this point father in law, Peter Aaronson, 309 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: made a move to sell their fasteners in France as 310 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:41,959 Speaker 1: Lafirm toute American or American Clothes all but that effort 311 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:45,280 Speaker 1: had sputtered out by nine twelve. In the time that 312 00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:48,879 Speaker 1: the French sales efforts were happening, Gideon, who had married 313 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:52,199 Speaker 1: Elvira Errandson in nineteen o nine, welcomed a child. This 314 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: was a daughter named Ruth Margitte. But though they should 315 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:59,680 Speaker 1: have been joyous, this was not a happy occasion. Elvira 316 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: die not long after Ruth's birth, and Gideon was just devastated, 317 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:07,399 Speaker 1: so much so that he could not envision himself raising 318 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: a child. When Elvira died that aaronsons were in Europe 319 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,639 Speaker 1: and Gideon had no personal support system and hobookens, so 320 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 1: Ruth was sent to Sweden, where Sunback's mother took care 321 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,399 Speaker 1: of her throughout her childhood. Yeah, there's not a lot 322 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 1: of information on their relationship. It appears they did not 323 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:29,320 Speaker 1: really reunite until she was at least a teenager, and 324 00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: then he was left kind of explaining like, no, I 325 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 1: was grieving not a lot beyond that of what happened 326 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:39,000 Speaker 1: with them. Yeah, I read a thing recently about like 327 00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:43,120 Speaker 1: how common this has been in points in history, especially 328 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:46,679 Speaker 1: when like a mother dies with an infant and the 329 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: father is totally at a loss for what to do, 330 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:55,000 Speaker 1: like particularly in this era, and so a different person 331 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:58,400 Speaker 1: entirely would wind up raising the child. Yeah. I suspect 332 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:01,680 Speaker 1: had Elvira's parents still ben in New Jersey and not 333 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: working overseas, that would have Benna a means to keep 334 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:08,200 Speaker 1: the family a little closer together, but it just wasn't. 335 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:11,639 Speaker 1: But by the time of Elvira's death and Ruth's birth, 336 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:15,439 Speaker 1: wickcom Judson had also died. He had moved as planned 337 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: to Muskegan, Michigan, and he died there on December seven, 338 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:21,399 Speaker 1: nine nine, at the age of sixty three, so he 339 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:24,400 Speaker 1: never got to see the success that eventually came from 340 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 1: other inventors building on his idea. His work in the 341 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:31,880 Speaker 1: early automotive industry, however, became very profitable, and that ensured 342 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:34,320 Speaker 1: that his son, who carried on his father's work in 343 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: that field, became very very wealthy. In the years that 344 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 1: Sunback had been with American Hook and I, other inventors 345 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,359 Speaker 1: had gotten the idea that they could improve on Judson's 346 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:48,639 Speaker 1: design and patent their own slide fastener. A woman named 347 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 1: Ida Josephine Calhoun had come up with a design that 348 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:54,560 Speaker 1: was very similar to Judson's, but had a slider that 349 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:57,199 Speaker 1: separated into two parts to help with some of the 350 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:01,119 Speaker 1: jamning problems. Frank camp Field had come up with a 351 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 1: slide fastener that eliminated hooks and eyes and instead used 352 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: a ball in socket closure. Yeah. Those were both interesting 353 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,639 Speaker 1: didn't ever go to market. But the first version of 354 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:14,920 Speaker 1: the closure that came closest to Sundbacks, and which led 355 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:17,880 Speaker 1: to some legal issues down the road, was one designed 356 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:21,119 Speaker 1: by a woman from Zurich, Switzerland named Katerina kun Moose. 357 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 1: She developed her fastener with a partner named en Reforster. 358 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 1: Kun Moose and Forrester got patents for their design in 359 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: Great Britain, France, and Germany. But though the European developed 360 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: closure worked and was pretty darn close to what we'd 361 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: easily recognized as a zipper today, it never went into 362 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,800 Speaker 1: production and those patents were abandoned. We'll talk about the 363 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:47,400 Speaker 1: breakthrough that led to the modern zipper after we paused 364 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:49,240 Speaker 1: for a quick word from the sponsors that keep the 365 00:21:49,280 --> 00:22:02,560 Speaker 1: show going. While still leaving his wife, Sundback worked on 366 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: a new idea which involved small interlocking teeth and was 367 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:10,480 Speaker 1: very much what we would recognize as a zipper. This 368 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,879 Speaker 1: change in design direction had been catalyzed by a deep 369 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: frustration that he had experienced with trying to make the 370 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:21,920 Speaker 1: security fastener and its various problems actually work. He wrote 371 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,440 Speaker 1: of this shift quote, I was fed up with hooks 372 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,960 Speaker 1: and eyes, rusting metal and everything pertaining to the fastener, 373 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,360 Speaker 1: the complaints, as far as our salesmen were concerned. We're 374 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 1: here's a scratchy fastener. These hooks are awfully rough and rusted. 375 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:38,639 Speaker 1: I decided to turn in an entirely different direction and 376 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,199 Speaker 1: away from hooks and eyes and get away from the 377 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:45,719 Speaker 1: metallic appearance, make something attractive to the wearer, and starting 378 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:47,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen twelve he started to do a lot more 379 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,520 Speaker 1: experimenting with the design. In October of that year he 380 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:55,399 Speaker 1: applied for a new patent, and this version used a 381 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:59,880 Speaker 1: completely different approach. One side had a row of clamp 382 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,240 Speaker 1: and the other side had a raised cord, so when 383 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,920 Speaker 1: the slider moved up, it closed the clamps onto the cord, 384 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:09,159 Speaker 1: and the slider moved down, it opened the clamps and 385 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,800 Speaker 1: the cord edge was released. This worked a lot better 386 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: than any of the previous designs that Judson or sun 387 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:19,720 Speaker 1: Back had worked on. It was consistent, it was quiet, 388 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,119 Speaker 1: it sure looked a lot nicer than the security fastener, 389 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:26,080 Speaker 1: and it was flexible, with no tendency to pop open 390 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:29,399 Speaker 1: when a wearer moved around. Sun Back called it the 391 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,119 Speaker 1: hookless fastener. Not super catchy, but it also conveyed that 392 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 1: a main concern about previous fasteners was out of the picture. 393 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:42,359 Speaker 1: There was, however, a problem, or more accurately too one. 394 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 1: The factory was back in financial hot water. It had 395 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:49,439 Speaker 1: to shut down completely temporarily because operational funds for it 396 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,800 Speaker 1: just did not exist, and sun Back took advantage of 397 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,680 Speaker 1: the down time to test and refined the hookless fastener 398 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: that actually revealed the second problem. The cording side of 399 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:02,919 Speaker 1: it wore out way too fast for it to be 400 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,760 Speaker 1: a reliable closure. The cotton used in the courting that 401 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:08,879 Speaker 1: which was just what was available at the time, just 402 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 1: could not stand up to the opening and closing of 403 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:15,920 Speaker 1: the clamps. Ultimately, this version of the fastener never went 404 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:20,200 Speaker 1: into production, but it did reinvigorate sent Back and other 405 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,199 Speaker 1: executives that American Hook and I, so much so that 406 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 1: plans were set in motion to move the factory and 407 00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:30,359 Speaker 1: re establish the company as the hookless Fastener Company. And 408 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:33,479 Speaker 1: the decision was made to move to Meadville, Pennsylvania, in 409 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:37,360 Speaker 1: part just to give everybody a fresh start. When Louis Walker, 410 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,800 Speaker 1: a company executive who was a significant driving force behind 411 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:44,359 Speaker 1: the business aspects of the various fasteners we've talked about 412 00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:47,320 Speaker 1: and their development, when he was asked by journalists why 413 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: the company had chosen to start anew in Meadville, he 414 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,919 Speaker 1: gave an interesting answer. He mentioned the good community and 415 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 1: the good schools and the clean air and water and 416 00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:01,639 Speaker 1: quote minimum of labor troubles. By autumn nine, the first 417 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:05,679 Speaker 1: fasteners were rolling off the production line in Meadville, but 418 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,119 Speaker 1: they were not the new hookless models. They were the 419 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 1: old Placo fasteners the company had made in New Jersey. 420 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,760 Speaker 1: The new design just wasn't ready because of the where 421 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 1: problem Sunback had identified, but they had to sell something, 422 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:21,560 Speaker 1: so the company fell back to the old design. The 423 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:24,640 Speaker 1: new fastener had been kept under wraps, so nobody outside 424 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:26,760 Speaker 1: of a small circle in the company was any the 425 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 1: wiser of this. Yeah, and even then, it took a 426 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:32,159 Speaker 1: long time for send Back apparently to own up to 427 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 1: the fact that, like that, that courted fastener was not 428 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:37,639 Speaker 1: gonna last. But it didn't take long for him to 429 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,399 Speaker 1: make the necessary adjustments to his design that led to 430 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:44,760 Speaker 1: a successful product, so successful that it introduced a closure 431 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,880 Speaker 1: into the world that remains largely unchanged in design. While 432 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:51,760 Speaker 1: Sundback claimed that he lost sleep as he thought about 433 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:56,639 Speaker 1: endless possible solutions, we don't actually know how he landed 434 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:58,879 Speaker 1: at the version of his fastener that would launch an 435 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:03,040 Speaker 1: entire industry. But the important element here was the introduction 436 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,679 Speaker 1: of what we would call zipper teeth. Today, zipper teeth, 437 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:09,840 Speaker 1: which are often called scoops on the manufacturing side, have 438 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:12,439 Speaker 1: a little bump on one side and a little divot 439 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,119 Speaker 1: on the other. When you stack these teeth in an 440 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: alternating pattern, so one tooth bump lands in the divot 441 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:20,359 Speaker 1: of a tooth on the opposite side, and you have 442 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,880 Speaker 1: a lot of them together, you get a surprisingly sturdy closure. 443 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 1: This is all described in detail and send Back's patent, 444 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,320 Speaker 1: which he filed in August of nineteen fourteen. Why he 445 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:34,200 Speaker 1: waited until then is unknown. He had the design figured 446 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,480 Speaker 1: out at the end of nineteen thirteen, but because sent 447 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:41,320 Speaker 1: Back didn't really document his process, there has always loomed 448 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:45,919 Speaker 1: one question about his fastener breakthrough. Did he know about 449 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,119 Speaker 1: the one Katerina coon Moose had designed and patented in 450 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:53,160 Speaker 1: Europe in nineteen eleven, because the scoop and bump were 451 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:57,600 Speaker 1: present in her non produced design. This was enough of 452 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:00,560 Speaker 1: a concern that, even though that Coon, Moose and Forster 453 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 1: design was not patented in the US, the U S 454 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:08,520 Speaker 1: Patent Office, who kept abreast of information on patents around 455 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:11,480 Speaker 1: the world, wanted to talk to sun Back about his 456 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:15,320 Speaker 1: patent application for what he called a separable fastener because 457 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:17,480 Speaker 1: they wanted to make sure he had not copied that 458 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 1: European patent. The big distinction was that the design by 459 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:26,920 Speaker 1: kud Moose had featured round bumps and scoops. Sunbacks had 460 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:31,640 Speaker 1: rectangular divots and bumps. He had determined that round would 461 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:34,400 Speaker 1: allow too much movement of the teeth. They would swivel 462 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:36,880 Speaker 1: and pop apart, so he came up with a shape 463 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:40,120 Speaker 1: to prevent that swiveling motion. So once the teeth were 464 00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:43,199 Speaker 1: stacked together, they flexed as a unit, but not at 465 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:47,600 Speaker 1: each touch point. And this discussion of this difference with 466 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: the patent office was something that continued on for several years. 467 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:55,440 Speaker 1: Gideon Sunback and Hookless Fastener Company actually made their case 468 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: regarding the different shaping of the connector points repeatedly. They 469 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:04,080 Speaker 1: even had versions made in their factory that strictly followed 470 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:06,879 Speaker 1: the Coon Moose design, just so they could show that 471 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:11,720 Speaker 1: it was very clear that it would not work properly. Simultaneously, 472 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:14,959 Speaker 1: as sent Back in his company defended their patent application, 473 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 1: other very similar patent applications were filed in the United States, 474 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:24,360 Speaker 1: further prolonging the process. Ultimately, the Sundback design was granted 475 00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:26,840 Speaker 1: a patent, but it took several years and an awful 476 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:29,439 Speaker 1: lot of legal back and forth. That patent was finally 477 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:33,359 Speaker 1: issued in March of nineteen seventeen, so almost three years 478 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:37,040 Speaker 1: after he filed for the Canadian rights, Sundback patented the 479 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:40,280 Speaker 1: hookless fastener under his own name, not the companies that 480 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:42,960 Speaker 1: had been agreed to with the company, and he also 481 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:47,480 Speaker 1: established the Lightning Fastener Company in Canada to manufacture separable 482 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:51,640 Speaker 1: fasteners there. The first large scale use of sun Backs 483 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:55,800 Speaker 1: invention was in the military. World War One. Uniforms and 484 00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:59,440 Speaker 1: pack gear made use of the new fastener, but although 485 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 1: it saved time and was reliable, it took a long 486 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 1: time to catch on with the general population. Zippers were 487 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:09,840 Speaker 1: still struggling to be recognized for their utility value. That 488 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:12,800 Speaker 1: ease with which they enabled a person to get dressed 489 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:15,600 Speaker 1: or undressed led to a bit of panic about the 490 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:20,040 Speaker 1: moral decline they might catalyze. They found a use as 491 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 1: a closure for tobacco pouches when locktights started buying bulk 492 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:27,280 Speaker 1: for the pouches they made, but the garment market was 493 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 1: still pretty elusive. But a consumer garment market usage of 494 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: the separable fastener catapulted Sundbacks Fastener forward in the nineteen twenties. 495 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:39,760 Speaker 1: You might have noticed that we have not discussed the 496 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 1: origin of the word zipper and when it started to 497 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,720 Speaker 1: be used, but it is tied to this nineteen twenties product. 498 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 1: Sundback did not come up with the word. It was 499 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:53,040 Speaker 1: coined by the BF good Rich company because in three 500 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:56,760 Speaker 1: be of good Rich started using the hookless fastener in galoshes, 501 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,800 Speaker 1: and the story goes that an employee there came up 502 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:02,840 Speaker 1: with on a mono poetic name, which the company registered 503 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,880 Speaker 1: as a trademark. In there are some variations to that 504 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:09,840 Speaker 1: who actually decided they should call it a zipper, but 505 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,200 Speaker 1: it's generally agreed that an employee of B. F. Good 506 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:15,760 Speaker 1: Rich was the one that came up with it. Lightning 507 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 1: Fastener Company challenged the good Rich trademark in nineteen thirty one. 508 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 1: That case ended up being dismissed, but good Rich was 509 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,800 Speaker 1: eventually granted exclusive use of the name zipper boots, not 510 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:30,240 Speaker 1: the word zipper on its own. As the nineteen thirties 511 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: war on the zipper finally started to lose its negative 512 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:37,880 Speaker 1: connotations as high profile people started to embrace this new closure. 513 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:42,640 Speaker 1: Advertising started touting zippers as a helpful closure for children's 514 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: clothing because it made them more able to manage getting 515 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 1: dressed on their own. The Prince of Wales started opting 516 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 1: for zippers instead of buttons and his trousers and four, 517 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:57,200 Speaker 1: further improving the image of the zipper. Elsa Schipperelli, who 518 00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,200 Speaker 1: we talked about in our virtual live show, was one 519 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,800 Speaker 1: of the first fashion designers to start using zippers, and 520 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:07,000 Speaker 1: by the late nineteen thirties and France most designers were 521 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 1: using them. And as France goes, so goes the world 522 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,560 Speaker 1: when it comes to fashion. UH. It was Lightning Fastener 523 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:16,680 Speaker 1: Company in St. Catherine's, Ontario that first went all in 524 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 1: on producing Sunback separable fastener in ninety seven. And when 525 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:22,920 Speaker 1: we say all in, what we mean is that it 526 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:26,360 Speaker 1: built the first factory that it was exclusively intended to 527 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:29,520 Speaker 1: manufacture zippers. Prior to that, it had always been like 528 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:33,080 Speaker 1: we're working it into another space. UH. Sundback also designed 529 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:36,320 Speaker 1: the machinery that was used for zipper production at that plant. 530 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 1: By the time World War Two was over, the zipper 531 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:42,920 Speaker 1: was ubiquitous. Through a series of name changes and acquisitions, 532 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:47,080 Speaker 1: the company Sundback worked for had evolved into Talent, which 533 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:50,200 Speaker 1: continues to exist today. By the end of the nineteen fifties, 534 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:53,400 Speaker 1: Talent was turning out five hundred million zippers a year. 535 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:57,600 Speaker 1: Levi's first garment to incorporate zippers was a pair of 536 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:01,160 Speaker 1: overalls that they sold in nineteen fifty four. That was 537 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:04,160 Speaker 1: also the year that Gideon Sunbac died of a heart condition. 538 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:07,120 Speaker 1: He had remained in Meadville, Pennsylvania for the rest of 539 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 1: his life, although he frequently visited Canada and the factory 540 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:14,320 Speaker 1: in St. Catharine's Sundback lived long enough to see the 541 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:18,080 Speaker 1: beginning of his inventions widespread acceptance, although he may never 542 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:19,960 Speaker 1: have dreamed of the way that it would become so 543 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 1: completely ingreened in everyday life that people rarely even give 544 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:28,440 Speaker 1: it much thought. He was buried in Meadville's Greendale Cemetery. 545 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:32,200 Speaker 1: And because we know you're probably wondering if you've ever 546 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:35,440 Speaker 1: looked at a zipper pull and seeing the letters y 547 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:38,600 Speaker 1: K K and wondered what they mean, here's the scoop. 548 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:44,040 Speaker 1: It is an abbreviation for Yoshida Kodyo, Kibushi Ki Kaisha. 549 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:46,600 Speaker 1: That's one of the companies that dominates the market today. 550 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:50,480 Speaker 1: So why k K or Yoshida Company Limited was founded 551 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:54,840 Speaker 1: in ninety four by Tadao Yoshida. Today, it dominates the 552 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:57,720 Speaker 1: zipper market. It makes more than one point five billion 553 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:00,640 Speaker 1: zippers each year that's billion with a B in more 554 00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:05,240 Speaker 1: than seventy countries around the globe. Yoshida Company Limited achieved 555 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:08,520 Speaker 1: its success in the zipper market by carefully designing every 556 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:11,680 Speaker 1: aspect not just to their product, but of their supply chain. 557 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 1: Everything from smelting brass to creating the boxes that the 558 00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:19,360 Speaker 1: product is shipped in is done under the company's umbrella 559 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:26,800 Speaker 1: Zippers Zippers. Tracy, I'm still working through the pile yeah 560 00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:33,320 Speaker 1: stuff stuff for our our various listener mail and I, um, 561 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:36,040 Speaker 1: like I said, I am now hitting things that are 562 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:39,360 Speaker 1: very old, but uh, some of them are very charming. 563 00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:42,080 Speaker 1: So I wanted to talk about in this case too, 564 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:44,040 Speaker 1: that are from our same listener who has sent us 565 00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:46,480 Speaker 1: many cards and notes over the years, and that is 566 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:50,960 Speaker 1: our listener Chip. But Chip at Halloween and uh, you'll 567 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:56,239 Speaker 1: forgive me. I honestly am not sure which Halloween this was, 568 00:33:56,280 --> 00:34:00,440 Speaker 1: if this one, but sent us in a May saying 569 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:05,680 Speaker 1: Haunted mansion pop up Halloween card cool, which is like 570 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:10,720 Speaker 1: dreamy That's great, Um, very very much in my Raby 571 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:14,560 Speaker 1: Zone uh and Chipwrights, Deer, Holly and Tracy. Happy October 572 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:18,400 Speaker 1: and happy Halloween. Pandemic or no pandemic. My Halloween spirits 573 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:21,320 Speaker 1: are high, and I know yours are to. Your episodes 574 00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:23,840 Speaker 1: about people of the Spiritualist movement are my favorite. So 575 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:27,000 Speaker 1: I loved your Madame Blovotsky episode. I too love a 576 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:29,960 Speaker 1: good seance. Rumor has it that she knew or at 577 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,800 Speaker 1: least met past episode subject, the Count of Saint Germain. 578 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:35,600 Speaker 1: True or not? The idea that the Count is connected 579 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:38,880 Speaker 1: to yet another episode subject is a hoot. As for 580 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:40,960 Speaker 1: this Haunted Mansion pop up card, as soon as I 581 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:42,520 Speaker 1: saw it, I knew it was a perfect card for 582 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:44,840 Speaker 1: the two of you. I hoped you're able to enjoy 583 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:48,160 Speaker 1: the changing of the leaves, cider, spooky stories, and everything 584 00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:50,040 Speaker 1: else about this time of year that brings a smile 585 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:52,280 Speaker 1: to your faces. And in case no one has actually 586 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:54,480 Speaker 1: said it, thank you for staying on the air despite 587 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:56,640 Speaker 1: the challenges of the times we are in. Stay safe 588 00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:58,759 Speaker 1: and have a very happy Halloween. I will say this, 589 00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:01,400 Speaker 1: I enjoy all those things you around. It's always Halloween 590 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 1: time for me. As we record this, it's the middle 591 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:06,480 Speaker 1: of July, which means I am ramping up my Halloween 592 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:11,120 Speaker 1: rabies for thee because it is my very favorite. And 593 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:14,239 Speaker 1: then I also have another card from CHIP that's a 594 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:19,040 Speaker 1: Thanksgiving card, and he wrote, Dear Holly and Tracy, congratulations 595 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:21,439 Speaker 1: we've made it this far. I know you probably won't 596 00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:22,960 Speaker 1: get this for a while because you weren't in the 597 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,359 Speaker 1: office due to the pandemic, and I could send an 598 00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:27,480 Speaker 1: email instead, but I just love taking the time to 599 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:31,000 Speaker 1: send something tangible. Somehow, your episodes have only gotten more 600 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:35,040 Speaker 1: exciting and interesting during the pandemic. Your Halloween episodes are 601 00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:37,800 Speaker 1: a highlight of my October, and your Helen von Tassig 602 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:41,160 Speaker 1: and Vivian Thomas, where every bit is captivating. I'm a 603 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:43,840 Speaker 1: registered nurse and have worked in cardiac care units for 604 00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:46,640 Speaker 1: ten years around the country. I've had many a patient 605 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:49,560 Speaker 1: who were born with congenital cardiac conditions, and your episodes 606 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:52,840 Speaker 1: on the Pioneers of Infant Cardiac Surgery touched me greatly. 607 00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:55,160 Speaker 1: And this is a Thanksgiving cards, so it's kind of 608 00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:58,080 Speaker 1: a double We're getting some bookends of CHIP cards, but 609 00:35:58,120 --> 00:35:59,560 Speaker 1: I wanted to make sure we read that since it 610 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:02,319 Speaker 1: talked at an episode you did the primary research on 611 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:05,000 Speaker 1: and also I want to say thank you to Chip 612 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:08,480 Speaker 1: for working in medicine because it's hard and nurses are 613 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:12,680 Speaker 1: miracles in my book. Um, and also more, Halloween is 614 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:17,319 Speaker 1: coming very soon and very excited if you would like 615 00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:20,600 Speaker 1: to write to us. As Chip mentioned, we're not in 616 00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:24,040 Speaker 1: the office and our office is moving, so don't send 617 00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:27,080 Speaker 1: us anything physical because I don't even know if the 618 00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:30,040 Speaker 1: new office can handle it. We're getting into a much 619 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:32,560 Speaker 1: smaller space, so I'm thinking we might have to cut 620 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:36,160 Speaker 1: off those. As much as I love getting treats from people, Yeah, 621 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:39,640 Speaker 1: it will probably never arrive if you send us something 622 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:42,280 Speaker 1: and I don't even have an address for it. Yeah. 623 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:44,640 Speaker 1: We've had a couple of people asked recently like, hey, 624 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:47,520 Speaker 1: I can't find your address, and we are literally in 625 00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:50,359 Speaker 1: between spaces right now, like Holly and I aren't really 626 00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:52,200 Speaker 1: working in the office at all, but like the the 627 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,600 Speaker 1: office has moved out of the old space. New space 628 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:58,640 Speaker 1: is not ready for us yet, so there's not an 629 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:02,480 Speaker 1: address at this moment. It we don't exist in physical space. Uh, 630 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,080 Speaker 1: so yes, just keep that in mind. Uh, if you 631 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:08,680 Speaker 1: had intention to send us something, you might want to 632 00:37:08,719 --> 00:37:10,640 Speaker 1: direct that energy elsewhere because I don't want it to 633 00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:13,840 Speaker 1: go to waste, but you can email us at History 634 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:16,319 Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart radio dot com. You can also 635 00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:19,359 Speaker 1: find us on social media as missed in History And 636 00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:22,560 Speaker 1: if you have not subscribed to the podcast yet, now 637 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:24,040 Speaker 1: it's a great time to do so. You could do 638 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:25,960 Speaker 1: that on the iHeart radio app or wherever it is 639 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:33,600 Speaker 1: that you're listening to your favorite podcasts. Stuff you Missed 640 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:36,080 Speaker 1: in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 641 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:38,960 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i 642 00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:42,239 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 643 00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:43,120 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.