Zipper

Hello, I'm a Zipper! You probably see me every day on your jacket, your backpack, or maybe even your pencil case. My job is to hold things together, nice and snug. Zzzzip! It’s what I do best. But have you ever imagined a world without me? Before I came along, getting dressed could take a very long time. Imagine trying to button up a long row of tiny, slippery buttons on your coat when you’re in a hurry to go play outside. Or think about lacing up tall boots, pulling each lace through little holes, one by one. It was slow and sometimes very tricky! I was invented to make things faster and easier for everyone. I wanted to say, “I can make mornings easier!” so you could get to the fun part of your day in a flash.

My story started a long, long time ago with a man named Whitcomb L. Judson. He was a very clever inventor, but he had a problem. Every single day, he had to lace up his tall boots, and he was tired of it. It took so much time! He thought, “There must be a better, faster way to close these boots!” So, he got to work, and on August 29th, 1893, the very first version of me was born. I wasn't called a zipper back then. My name was the 'Clasp Locker.' I was a little bit different from the me you know today. I was made of hooks and eyes that locked together. To be honest, I was a bit clunky and clumsy. Sometimes, if you moved too fast, I would pop right open by surprise! Oops! I knew I wasn't perfect yet, but it was a start, and I was excited to help.

I worried people might not like me because I kept popping open, but I didn't give up. Luckily, a wonderful engineer named Gideon Sundback came along to help me. He looked at my design and had a brilliant idea. He saw that my little metal hooks weren't quite right. So, he changed me! Instead of hooks and eyes, he gave me two rows of tiny metal teeth. He figured out how to make them interlock, which means they fit together perfectly, like puzzle pieces. By the year 1913, he had made me the smooth, strong, and reliable invention that you know today. I could finally zip up and down without any surprise openings! Gideon was so proud that he even built a special machine just to make more of me, with all my little teeth perfectly in a row.

Now that I was strong and worked so well, I was ready to zip into the world. I got my fun name from a company that put me on their rubber boots. When they zipped them up, I made a sound that went 'zzzzzip!' They loved the sound so much that they started calling the boots 'Zippers,' and soon, everyone was calling me a Zipper, too. I became very popular, especially because I helped kids learn to dress themselves. No more tricky buttons! Now, I am everywhere. You can find me on jeans, sleeping bags, tents, and even on the special suits that astronauts wear in space. I am always ready to hold things together and help you get ready for your next adventure in a zip!