Original photo by Виктория Котлярчук/ Adobe Stock
Though they’re now commonly found on everything from jackets to couch cushions, zippers were actually originally intended for shoes. The history of this versatile mechanism can be traced to 1893, when inventor Whitcomb Judson was granted a patent for a rudimentary zipper that he called the “clasp-locker,” an alternative to lengthy shoelaces. The patent described it as “a series of clasps securable to the flaps of the shoes” which automatically engaged or disengaged with a movable hand device. Judson displayed his creation at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, though it was met with minimal interest. Despite several refinements to the product, this zipper ultimately never caught on due to its sharp hooks and the resulting frequency of torn fabric.
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It's a factHigh heels were originally worn by 10th-century Persian cavalry, who used them to stabilize their feet in stirrups while riding horseback. They later popped up in Europe, where aristocrats viewed them as a sign of virility. In 1670, France’s King Louis XIV decreed that only nobility could wear them.
Swedish inventor Gideon Sundback later improved upon Judson’s design, creating a more reliable version with two rows of metal teeth pulled together by a slider. These hookless fasteners were designed to be used on “shoes, corsets, and other articles of wear,” according to the 1917 patent. The invention caught the eye of New York City tailor Robert Ewig, who sewed them onto money belts. These belts were rather popular among U.S. sailors, whose uniforms lacked pockets, and in 1918, the Navy bought 10,000 fasteners to incorporate into flight suits. In 1923, the BFGoodrich Company added Sundback’s fasteners to rubber boots and coined the word “zipper,” an onomatopoeia based on the sound they made.
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The “YKK” acronym that appears on most zippers stands for ______.
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The “YKK” acronym that appears on most zippers stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha.
A design student was paid $35 to create Nike’s “Swoosh” logo.
In 1971, Carolyn Davidson was a graphic design student at Portland State University in Oregon. One day, a man named Phil Knight overheard her lamenting to a classmate about her inability to afford art supplies. Knight approached the student with an offer to design a logo for his new shoe company, Blue Ribbon Sports — later renamed Nike. Davidson created the now-iconic “Swoosh” and charged Knight $35 (roughly $275 today) for her work.
The following year, Nike debuted its first shoe, which featured Davidson’s logo. In 1983, Knight invited Davidson to the Nike offices, where she was awarded a gold ring and 500 shares of stock as an additional thanks. But because of six subsequent stock splits, those 500 shares equal 32,000 shares today — upward of $2.3 million in value.
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism Media, and previously contributed to television programs such as "Late Show With David Letterman" and "Impractical Jokers." Bennett is also a devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
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