XYZ: The History of the Zipper, From Pouches to Pants

The handy little device we know as a “zipper” has been around since 1913, and it was invented by a man named Gideon Sundback. He didn’t call it a zipper, but named it the Clasp Locker. Later on, the Clasp Locker was manufactured and promoted by the B. F. Goodrich Company, a name familiar to most of us, although not in connection with zippers. The name “Zipper” was eventually coined by the B. F. Goodrich Company, and it has kept that name ever since.

Zippers were first used for tobacco pouches and rubber galoshes. Surprisingly, it took almost 20 years for it to become popular for other applications. That seems surprising when we read novels set in the 1800’s that go to great lengths describing the difficulty of dealing with buttons on women’s attire, corset laces, and the old-fashioned buttonhooks used on shoes in those days. Can you imagine how long it took to get ready for a date? And doesn’t it seem as though some enterprising entrepreneur would have pounced on the zipper as a solution to most of those problems? But, apparently. no one did.

How many times a day do you zip up a zipper? Probably several. Multiply that by the days in a year and you will find that the number of times you put this amazing little invention into use is astounding. Zippers have come to play a big part in our lives, even though we are so used to them that we hardly even notice.

Even the word, “zipper” has entrenched itself into our everyday language. How often have we heard the phrase, “zip your lips?” Everyone understands that it means to close your mouth tightly and to stop talking.

Zipper is frequently shortened to zip, meaning to rush from one place to another. Zipping around the bases in a ball game, means traveling quickly.

Hardly a man lives who has never heard the phrase, “Your fly is unzipped.” And, when he hears it, he takes quick action to remedy the situation.

Several years ago, my husband had open heart surgery. Hearing one of the nurses refer to his incision as looking like a zipper, he started referring to people who had had open heart surgery as members of the Zipper-Chest Club. In fact, he went so far as to design a badge for members of his club to wear. It had a little cat hanging from a tree limb and he drew a zipper down the front of the cat. Copied on the computer and printed out to be made into buttons, the illustration was really cute. He made a number of the buttons and still presents one to acquaintances whenever he hears they have had open-heart surgery.

Try to imagine your life without zippers. Suppose you woke up tomorrow and every zipper in your house had disappeared. There would probably be a lot of zipping around to fix the problem, but let’s hope that doesn’t ever happen.

Zippers have been around a long time, and I think, in spite of Velcro, and numerous other types of fasteners that have come on the market over the years, zippers are here to stay.