Hookless No. 2

This month marks the 95th anniversary of the zipper. It’s come a long way since its invention in the late 1800s. After two decades of flawed designs and lack of manufacturing equipment, a patent was awarded in April 1913 to Gideon Sundback for his quick closing fastener, the Hookless No. 2.

 

Gaining fast acceptance, zippers were mass produced starting in the 1930s and were used widely in the construction of men’s and children’s clothing. But they were considered inappropriate for ladies’ garments until the late 1950s. Hmm. Apparently women couldn’t be trusted when to zip or unzip.

The term zipper was coined in 1923 by the BF Goodrich Co. for their rubber overshoes featuring the hookless fastener. I’m old enough to remember those…barely.

Dad had a pair of rubber overshoes, also called galoshes (not to be confused with goulash), which fell out of fashion by the early 1970s. This was just as well. Kris and I dared not touch those semi-translucent rubbery things with the wide zipper, gaping open at the back of the coat closet like so much dead wide mouth bass.

 

We grew up wearing parkas – warm coats with big brassy zippers, outer plackets with toggles and fur around the hood. The zipper was awfully cold and uncomfortable when the parka was zipped up to the face. Thankfully today’s coats have a placket behind the zipper, and the zipper is constructed of plastic coils more often than brass alloy teeth.

 

Used mainly in trousers, outerwear and luggage, the zipper has taken its place in the modern world. Zippers are used everywhere, from avant-garde decorations to plastic bags. Integrate the word onto a triple word square in scrabble for 57 points or more. 

 

Although I have never mastered the art of sewing a zipper into a garment, I can think of other creative applications.

 

 

 

Your zipper-head friend,
Jamie