Rubber Band

Hello there. My name is Rubber Band. I bet you’ve seen me around. I’m the stretchy, snappy friend that loves to wrap around things and hold them tight. My favorite thing to do is S-T-R-E-T-C-H as far as I can, and then snap right back to my circle shape. It’s so much fun. Have you ever seen a big pile of crayons rolling all over the table, or a stack of letters about to tumble over? It looks like a big jumble, doesn't it? Well, I have a secret for you. I was born to solve messy problems just like that. I love making things neat and tidy.

My story didn't start in an office or a classroom. It started a long, long time ago, deep in a forest with a special kind of tree called a rubber tree. This tree makes a sticky, white sap that looks like milk. For a while, people tried to use this gooey sap, but it was a bit of a mess. It would get melty and sticky when it was hot, and hard and crumbly when it was cold. It wasn't very useful at all. But then, a very clever man named Charles Goodyear had an idea. He was so curious. He spent years mixing the rubber with different things to try and make it better. One day, he accidentally dropped a mixture of rubber and sulfur on a hot stove. He was amazed. Instead of melting into a gooey puddle, the rubber turned tough and strong, but it was still stretchy. He called this amazing discovery vulcanization. After that, another smart man in London, England named Stephen Perry saw this new, strong rubber. He had a brilliant idea. He thought, 'What if I cut this into little rings? They could hold papers together.'. And that's exactly what he did. On March 17th, 1845, he created me. I was born. I was a brand new, stretchy rubber band, ready to help the world.

From that day on, I snapped into action. You can find me everywhere, doing all sorts of important jobs. When you go to the grocery store, you might see me holding a bundle of green asparagus or a bunch of broccoli together. I help the mail carrier keep letters and postcards in a neat stack. I keep newspapers rolled up tight so they can be delivered to your door. But I also love to have fun. I can be a slingshot for a fluffy pom-pom or help a paper airplane fly just a little bit farther across the room. I may be small and simple, but I bring order and fun to the world. It just goes to show that even a simple idea, like a stretchy little ring, can stretch a very long way to help people every single day.