In Memoriam: mang M
Paper Clips
A paper clip is usually a thin wire in a looped shape that takes advantage of the elasticity and strength of the materials of its construction (usually steel or some other metal, but sometimes plastic) to compress and therefore hold together two or more pieces of paper by means of torsion and friction. Some other kinds of paper clip use a two-piece clamping system.
Recent innovations include multi-colored plastic-coated paper clips and spring-fastened binder clips.
History
The most common type of wire paper clip still in use, the Gem paper clip, was never patented, but it was most likely in production in Britain already in the early 1870s by "The Gem Manufacturing Company", according to the American expert on technological innovations, professor Henry J. Petroski. He refers to an 1883 article about "Gem Paper-Fasteners", praising them for being "better than ordinary pins" for "binding together papers on the same subject, a bundle of letters, or pages of a manuscript". Since the 1883 article had no illustration of this early "Gem", it may have been different from modern paper clips of that name. The earliest documentation of its existence is an advertisement for "Gem Paper Clips" published by Cushman & Denison, 172 9th Avenue, New York City, in The Book-Keeper, August 1894, p. 6. In 1904 Cushman & Denison registered a trade mark for the "Gem" name in connection with paper clips. The announcement stated that it had been used since March 1, 1892, which may have been the time of its introduction in the United States. Paper clips are still sometimes called "Gem clips", and in Swedish the word for any paper clip is "gem".
Definite proof that the modern type of paper clip was well known in 1899 at the latest is the patent granted to William Middlebrook of Waterbury, Connecticut on April 27 of that year for a "Machine for making wire paper clips". The drawing clearly shows that the product is a perfect clip of the Gem type. The fact that Middlebrook did not mention it by name, suggests that it was already well known at the time. Since then countless variations on the same theme have been patented. Some have pointed instead of rounded ends, some have the end of one loop bent slightly to make it easier to insert sheets of paper, and some have wires with undulations or barbs to get a better grip. In addition, purely aesthetic variants have been patented, clips with triangular or round shapes. But the original Gem type has for more than a hundred years proved to be the most practical, and consequently by far the most popular. Its qualities of easy use, gripping without tearing, and storing without tangling have been difficult to improve on.
It has been claimed, though apparently without evidence, that Herbert Spencer, the originator of the term "survival of the fittest", invented the paper clip.
Today's Bible verse:
Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 PETER 3:18
Paper Clips
A paper clip is usually a thin wire in a looped shape that takes advantage of the elasticity and strength of the materials of its construction (usually steel or some other metal, but sometimes plastic) to compress and therefore hold together two or more pieces of paper by means of torsion and friction. Some other kinds of paper clip use a two-piece clamping system.
Recent innovations include multi-colored plastic-coated paper clips and spring-fastened binder clips.
History
The most common type of wire paper clip still in use, the Gem paper clip, was never patented, but it was most likely in production in Britain already in the early 1870s by "The Gem Manufacturing Company", according to the American expert on technological innovations, professor Henry J. Petroski. He refers to an 1883 article about "Gem Paper-Fasteners", praising them for being "better than ordinary pins" for "binding together papers on the same subject, a bundle of letters, or pages of a manuscript". Since the 1883 article had no illustration of this early "Gem", it may have been different from modern paper clips of that name. The earliest documentation of its existence is an advertisement for "Gem Paper Clips" published by Cushman & Denison, 172 9th Avenue, New York City, in The Book-Keeper, August 1894, p. 6. In 1904 Cushman & Denison registered a trade mark for the "Gem" name in connection with paper clips. The announcement stated that it had been used since March 1, 1892, which may have been the time of its introduction in the United States. Paper clips are still sometimes called "Gem clips", and in Swedish the word for any paper clip is "gem".
Definite proof that the modern type of paper clip was well known in 1899 at the latest is the patent granted to William Middlebrook of Waterbury, Connecticut on April 27 of that year for a "Machine for making wire paper clips". The drawing clearly shows that the product is a perfect clip of the Gem type. The fact that Middlebrook did not mention it by name, suggests that it was already well known at the time. Since then countless variations on the same theme have been patented. Some have pointed instead of rounded ends, some have the end of one loop bent slightly to make it easier to insert sheets of paper, and some have wires with undulations or barbs to get a better grip. In addition, purely aesthetic variants have been patented, clips with triangular or round shapes. But the original Gem type has for more than a hundred years proved to be the most practical, and consequently by far the most popular. Its qualities of easy use, gripping without tearing, and storing without tangling have been difficult to improve on.
It has been claimed, though apparently without evidence, that Herbert Spencer, the originator of the term "survival of the fittest", invented the paper clip.
Today's Bible verse:
Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 PETER 3:18