How much did the zipper cost in the 1893 Columbian Exposition? I am doing a history project and I cannot seem to find how much it cost back then. Thanks for answers. Judson (March 7, 1843 – December 7, 1909) was an American machine salesman, mechanical engineer and inventor. He received thirty patents over a sixteen-year career, fourteen of which were on pneumatic street railway innovations.
Zippers. We all use them. They have been around for over 100 years. Many claim the zipper to be an American invention because a patent for a 'clasp locker' was originally granted in 1893 to American inventor, Whitcomb Judson, but his invention was clunky and often jammed. It was not received well at the 1893 World's Trade Fair. Many people were working on alternate ideas to hook and eye closures, however, it was north of the 49th parallel, in 1913, that the patent for the modern zipper was granted to a Swedish- born Engineer named Gideon Sundbäch …Yet another reason to love Canada!
Over the last 3 years we have seen zippers rise up in status in fashion. No longer hidden under flaps the exposed zipper has become more than a functional clothing closure. It is regarded as an embellishment. Designers have not only been sewing zippers everywhere as if they were an appliqués, but even deconstructing it to create new adornments for clothing and accessories.
Today we see zippers used as jewellery – Glee's Tina Chan was sporting an oversized zipper inspired necklace on the season's premiere last week. In several stores, such as Claire's, you can find plastic, zipper-inspired bracelets. Explore Esty and Pinterest and you will find many examples of Zipper jewellery – bracelets being the most popular form.
Being a creative gal I thought I would try my hand at making a few zipper bracelets and I know a certain 9 year girl who would happy to have some – let's be honest, I wanted one too! So today I am going to walk you through the 'how to' so you can also try your hand at it.
There are many ways you can make these bracelets. I will document two methods and give you tips for others. It will depend on your skill, tools available and personal taste. Here we go…
What You'll Need:
Zipper 1893
- Zippers
*TIP* Wrap the zipper around your wrist when purchasing to gauge the size/length you need to fit your wrist. Use shorter zippers for kid's bracelets.
- Spring-ring or lobster clasps
- Jump rings
- Clamps with a ring attached to finish the end of the zipper
- Super Glue (optional depending on method used)
- Scissors, lighter, pliers, small drill (optional)
The How To:
- For all zippers you must trim the excess fabric off. See below.
2. Next you will need a lighter to carefully melt/bond the edges of the zipper fabric to prevent fraying. The zipper is now ready to be finished on the 'stop' end.
*TIP* If using a plastic zipper be careful to not hold the flame too long against the fabric in any one spot as you can melt/damage the zipper.
3. If you have a small drill, this is the easiest way to finish the end of the zipper. You can drill both metal and plastic zippers but I find drilling the plastic much easier. Using a drill bit bigger than the thickness of the wire in your jump ring, drill a hole through the centre of the zipper stop.
4. Using pliers, open the jump ring and feed it through the hole. Close the jump ring and add another smaller one. You will need 2 jump rings to ensure that your clasp will be in the proper position to attach to the other end of the bracelet.
5. Attach your clasp to the smaller jump ring. Open the clasp and attach/close on the hole in the zipper pull.
*TIP* Make sure your clasp is large enough to fit over the edge of the zipper pull allowing for easy opening and closing.
*TIP* Make sure you place your clasp in the right side up so you can easily open & close it… Yes. I got it wrong the first time… See Below.
Not using plastic zippers? Do not have a small drill?
- Follow steps 1 & 2.
- Use Clamps, which can be found in any crafting beading supply store under Jewellery Findings, to finish the 'stop' end of the zipper. Try to find a clamp which will fit the end of your zipper. You may use glue to secure the clamps or pliers to close them. Your choice. It will depend in the particular findings you purchase how you secure them.
- Again you will need 2 jump rings to properly align the clasp with the hole in zipper pull.
- Follow step 5 above.
Options:
- Try wiring or stitching a button to the 'stop' end of the zipper and make a wire loop which is attached to the button thru one of its holes. Attach the jump ring and clasp to the zipper pull and close the clasp over the loop on the button.
- Use a safety pin to close the bracelet. You could pin it to the stop end and close over the zipper pull hole.
- Want to add some flare? Add extra jump rings to the jump ring on the stop end and hang a few charms.
- Try using a longer zipper to make a wrap around bracelet or even a necklace.
The bracelets require very little time to make and the materials are inexpensive. I challenge you to take the basics I have shared here and make you own. There are many ways to personalize your bracelet. Surf the net for inspiration. I'd love to hear about your creations!
Zipper Inventor 1893
P.S. I am currently working on a few new zipper jewellery pieces so check back later for an update…
All Jewellery by Lyndsay Jenkinson
Photos by Lyndsay Jenkinson
Who Invented The Zipper 1893
Click to see this picture full size.
Jeans have them. Purses do, too. They can be found on backpacks, boots and bags, sleeping bags, sweaters, and suitcases. From coats to coolers, zippers are everywhere. It is difficult to believe that this now ubiquitous invention struggled to make it to shelves, but thanks to a few dedicated inventors, managers, and salesmen in Meadville, Pennsylvania, people everywhere can avoid the hassles of buttoning their pants and parkas, opting instead for the zipper's irresistible combination of 'simplicity and complexity.'
The issue of where, how, and when the zipper was first invented has been steeped in controversy. Whitcomb Judson was the first to come up with the idea of a metal zipper in 1893, which he referred to as a 'clasp locker.' Judson's clasp locker consisted of a complicated hook-and-eye fastener that was used to open shoes. Judson designed this device for the Automatic Hook and Eye Company, but his design could not be mass produced easily and had the unfortunate habit of popping open unexpectedly. Luckily, Swedish inventor Gideon Sundback created a design that used a slider and two rows of metal teeth. Sundback's creation was more durable than Judson's and was much cheaper to produce. Because of these improvements, Gideon Sundback holds the patent for the 'zip fastener.' As the patent holder, Sundback is commonly acknowledged as the inventor of the zipper. In 1906, Lewis Walker, who was excited about Sundback's new design, took over control of the Automatic Hook and Eye Company, renaming it the Hookless Fastener Company.
Walker made the crucial decision to move manufacturing operations to Meadville, citing a 'wish to locate in a community where there is a minimum of labor troubles, where there are ample express facilities…and where the members of the concern and its employees may enjoy the comforts and advantages of pure air and water, good schools and wholesome influences,' a city that was, according to Robert Friedel in Zipper: An Exploration of Novelty, 'in spirit, as well as in time and place…very close to the Zenith of Sinclair Lewis's Babbit.' By November 1913, the newly named company was producing a thousand zip fasteners a day.
Although Hookless was capable of producing mass quantities of the fasteners, they initially lacked the outlets to sell their product. In 1921, B.F. Goodrich Rubber designed galoshes that would use Sundback's fasteners. The boots, which were originally going to be named the Mystik Boot, were renamed the Zipper when Goodrich employees reported that the company's president showed 'boundless enthusiasm' for the new design. The term 'zipper,' initially the name of just the boot, eventually came to signify Sundback's invention as well. Even though the boots were popular and helped Hookless turn a profit, they were the only major product affiliated with the fastener company. Friedel effectively summarizes the situation: 'when Goodrich's Zipper Boots sold, the fastener sold; when they did not, the fastener didn't.'
Zipper Invention 1893
Click to see this picture full size.
In 1937, some major changes took place. First, the Hookless Fastener Company changed its name again to Talon, Inc. The name change was advantageous because it could be printed on the zipper tab itself, and it was easier for potential buyers to remember. In the same year, the zipper began to gain notoriety for its use on clothing. The Prince of Wales notably wore a suit with a zipper and more clothing designers began to incorporate zippers into their fashions. With new colors available, zippers became a must-have item on clothing of all types.
Fortunately for the clothing industry, Talon was located in an ideal city to meet the demands of the newest fashion fad. According to Friedel, Meadville 'had become a modest but important center of toolmaking… [it] was an environment in which the zipper makers could grow as fast as their capital and their markets allowed.' In a decade when most other companies were firing workers and struggling to survive, Talon's Meadville factories had to go to twenty-four hour production to meet demand. At the height of the zipper's popularity, the Meadville zipper factories employed 5,000 workers—out of a town with fewer than 19,000 people. Zipper making became, in Friedel's words, the 'economic heart and soul of Meadville.'
Talon had its best year ever in 1941, when demand for the zipper earned the company thirty-one million dollars in sales. Months later, wartime shortages dried up the supplies of copper alloy that the Meadville factories needed for their machines. For Meadville, the boom was over. Talon's Meadville operations never recovered. Shortly after 1960, the struggling company was purchased by Textron, Inc. but then re-sold in 1968. The Meadville managers, who tried to turn the company around, eventually were forced to sell the zipper company to the British textile company Coats Viyella PLC in 1991.
While Talon fruitlessly attempted to revive its pre-war boom, Japanese manufacturer YKK capitalized on a worldwide demand for zippers. YKK opened a plant in New Zealand in 1959, followed in successive years by plants in the U.S., Malaysia, Thailand, Costa Rica and other textile-producing countries, taking full advantage of the cheaper labor offered by many of these nations. By constructing plants closer to areas of consumption, YKK provided itself with a more responsive distribution network, guaranteeing timelier product delivery. By 1991, YKK had an international presence in forty-two countries, with a mere thirty percent of its 1.25 million miles of zippers being produced for domestic consumers. YKK surpassed Talon for the American market sometime in the 1980s, forcing Talon to later forgo the zipper business.
Talon's rise and fall mirrored that of Meadville as well. The loss of manufacturing during the late 1970s and early 1980s created an unemployment rate just under twenty percent. The loss of Talon for good in 1993 left economic wounds that still have not fully healed. The expressways on the western side of Pennsylvania skirt Meadville by a few miles, giving the impression that the twenty-first century has left this town behind. The smokestacks that indicate Meadville's productive past now seem aimless. Although some things are still manufactured in Meadville, Friedel remarks that 'zippers are not among them…only by straining a little bit can one make out a faded 'Talon' on one or two of the outlying brick buildings.' These days, the closest that Meadville comes to the zipper is in the name of its local radio station, WZPR, a reminder that this Pennsylvania town was responsible for one of the most useful inventions of the last century.
Sources:
- Crosbie, Betty Ann. 'No need to shy away from installing zipper.' The Toronto Star 20 Feb. 2003, Ontario ed., Fashion sec.: D04.
- Dulken, Stephen Van. Inventing the 20th Century: 100 Inventions That Shaped the World. Washington Square, NY: New York UP, 2000.
- Friedel, Robert. Zipper: An Exploration in Novelty. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1994.
- Fulford, Benjamin. 'Zipping up the world.' Forbes. 24 Nov. 2003. 25 Mar. 2009. .
