PAPER CLIPS
Yes, I know it’s a strange thing to write about, but when I thought about things in my life that I use every day (even if I take them for granted), paper clips were at the top of the list.
I depend on them for a wide variety of things – in both my business AND my personal life.
The history behind them is complicated, since nobody seems to know who actually invented them. (At least 50 patents were given for different variations of the same design!)
According to the Early Office Museum, Samuel B. Fay was awarded the first patent for a bent-wire paper clip in 1867.
But the patent for the paper clip we use today was granted to William Middlebrook of Waterbury, Connecticut, in November 1899. The machine that MADE the paper clips was also part of the patent.
The paper clip / production machine patent was sold that same year to a manufacturing company called Cushman & Denison (C&D). C&D trademarked the name “Gem.” (In Sweden, paper clips are still called “gems.”)
My own favorites are the large (1⅞”) paper clips, but I also keep binder clips handy. (Binder clips didn’t come along until 1910, but since they’re also used to organize batches of paper, I put them in the same category.)
DID YOU KNOW …
… that paper clips make great substitutes for the metal hangers attached to traditional Christmas ornaments, which often go missing?
… that Norwegians living under Nazi occupation during World War II wore paper clips on their lapels to demonstrate patriotism and passive resistance?
… that National Paperclip Day is celebrated each year on May 29?
