The Mystery Of Paperclips

as an innovation the modern paperclip has a peculiar history unlike most other tools devices or technologies this ubiquitous device has no definitive origin or evolution its history has been muddied by its own triviality becoming a part of common use seemingly out of nowhere the story of the paperclip begins unsurprisingly with a little anecdote about the development of paper paper was first created in China during the 1st century AD initially made from cotton and linen these fabric pavers were expensive to produce and were generally reserved for permanent writing many of these written works were also sewn into bound volumes much like a printed book because of papers value more trivial temporary writing was done on reusable clay or wax tablets by the 19th century the Industrial Revolution brought about the invention of wood pulping and industrial paper mills making paper production inexpensive and wildly available industrialization also resulted in a boom of Commerce and literacy triggering the advent of bureaucracy the lifeblood of this offshoot of industrial organization were masses of loose sheets of paper work from this a quintessential middle-class profession was born the clerk as early as the mid 1700s the clerk was the individual tasked with the creation sorting and processing of paper work a solution to the humdrum task of binding this paper work together in a convenient reusable manner would come from the very same industrialization that created this need in the first place the first of these problem-solving devices was the simple pin in the first half of the 1800s before mechanization fully took hold of the industrial era the process for creating pins laid the groundwork for key tenant of mass production the division of labour by dividing the processes of drawing straightening forming and cutting iron into over a dozen individual tasks each done by a dedicated laborer pin production became over 1,000 times more efficient where a single man could barely create 30 pins in a single day this early use of the assembly line would easily yield production rates of over 30,000 pins by 1890 a box of 3,000 pins could be bought for as little as 40 cents while iron pins were inexpensive easy to use and disposable they had the obvious downside of leaving rust stains and holes in the papers they held together advancements in both metallurgy and mechanization would finally bring about the marvel of modern paper holding technology the paperclip the key to the shift from pins to clips occurred during the 1850s with the introduction of low-cost industrially produced steel these new Steel's had the perfect balance of strength and elasticity forming a slew of new structural products such as rails beams pipes and contextually most important of all wire manufacturers began to draw form and manipulate steel wire into a huge range of products such as hooks pins hangers Springs and clips during the last few decades of the 19th century thousands of patents were issued for almost every shape of formed steel wire that could be conceivably used as a commercial product among these early steel wire based products were the first paperclips the earliest known patent for a paperclip was awarded in the United States to Samuel Buffet in 1867 phase design was originally intended for attaching tickets to fabric though the practice of using it for binding papers together was established within his patent along with phase design over 50 other patents for paperclips were issued over the next few decades some other notable examples were the right clip a design advertised for use in fastening newspapers and patented in 1877 the niagara clip patented in 1897 and the common sense clips of the early 1900's some of these designs such as the bow shaped ideal paper clip and the 2id I'll clip can still be found in use today many were created to address specific challenges of managing paper work some were designed for securing the larger stacks of paper others minimized costs by using less wire many of them were even designed for easier storage by having tangle resistant characteristics one particular style of paperclips stood out amongst its competitors possessing an elegant and efficient design that held papers between two tongue loops with the torsional force of the bent springy steel wire that formed its shape curiously this design had been in production in England since the 1870s by several manufacturers yet none had filed a patent on its form among them the gem manufacturing company had arisen as the namesake behind this design with a reference first appearing in an 1883 article touting the benefits of the gem paper fastener however no illustrations existed of these early gem paperclips making it unclear if they truly did invent the modern gem paperclip it would not be until 1893 for the first definitive illustration of a modern gem paperclip to appear in a publication presented in an advertisement by the american company Cushman and Denison as a gem paperclip the company would go on to register the trademark to the gem name in 1904 it speculated that the gem name and design had been introduced in the United States during the spring of 1892 interestingly aside from Cushman and Denison's branding claimed even 30 years after its first appearance the gem style paperclip still remained unpatented even stranger in 1899 a patent was granted to William Middlebrook of Waterbury Connecticut for a machine for making wire paperclips within the pages of his patent filing was a drawing clearly showing that the product produced was a gem style paperclip despite this the scope of the patent covered only the machine and not what it produced Middlebrook also did not mention the clip by name suggesting its style was already general knowledge by the time of his patent filing there have been several other unsubstantiated claims to the invention of the modern paperclip one such notable claim was made by Herbert Spencer the man who coined the term survival of the fittest without evidence Spencer claimed in his autobiography to have invented a binding pin that was distributed by Ackerman and company his paper binding invention was illustrated with though it looked more like a modern cotterpin than a contemporary gem style paperclip another noteworthy claim was erroneously made by Norwegian Johan valor in 1901 valor was liberally granted patents both in Germany and in the United States for paperclip of similar design though it lacked the final Bend found in gem style paperclip this flaw made his design less effective and it was theorized that he was likely unaware that the better gem style design had already existed valores design was never manufactured or marketed due to the mass adoption of the superior gem style clip valor would go on to become a national myth posthumously based on the false assumption that the paperclip was invented by an unrecognized Norwegian prodigy the gem style paperclip would remain mostly unchanged over the next 120 years it would even become a symbol throughout the century in France during world war ii it was worn by Patriots to represent resistance to German occupiers after world war ii it would become a symbol of Norway's inventiveness based on valorous claims the paperclip would even be commemorated on the nation's stamp in 1999 in the United States the paperclip would even be distinguished on May 29th national paperclip day the paperclip also became a universal tool of sorts and technology often being the tool of choice for emergency eject buttons in both CD and floppy disk drives SIM card tray removal and hidden device reset buttons it has also become the universal symbol for an attachment in emails as well as attaining anthropomorphic fame as the Microsoft office assistant Clippy attempts have been made to improve upon the design throughout the years some variants have been made of plastic others have colorful textured coatings on the wire many manufacturers have even attempted to improve on the design by adding ripples for better grip still the simple steel wire gem style paperclip remains a staple of basic office supply needs even today its ease of use and effectiveness at gripping and storing papers without tangling or damaging them have made it one of the few inventions in human history that has proven to be difficult to improve upon [Music]

Channel: New Mind

Views: 130,053

Keywords: paper clip, who invented the paperclip, strange inventions from the past, gem paperclip, origin of paper, origin of paperclip, types of paper clips, industrial era documentary, inventions from the industrial revolution, inventions you didnt know existed, inventions that shook the world, invention, office supply history, johan vaaler, inventors, peculiar inventions, modern marvels, old technology, mysterious inventions, interesting, interesting videos, interesting facts

Id: 7NRxW9ReNsA

Length: 9min 17sec (557 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 27 2020