The zipper: An American Invention

My son has been doing the filming for our instructional video on zippers. The time it is taking from his daily routine is putting a kink in his social calendar, so with it comes the occasional mild complaint "Why do people have to know about zippers? Isn't there another way?"

Well yes, I explain. We can put button in your pants. That's how it was done in the days before zippers. Or we can go back a little farther to the days when pants were basically two tubes tied together with a cloth tucked between your legs to cover the gap. Or we can go back the farthest - just think! All men (and women) could be wearing a dress right now!

That was it. He was back to the camera without another word.Technology and invention have given us a lot to be thankful for.


While you wait for the video to be completed, I recommend an excellent website that tells the complete and interesting tale of how the zipper came to be. Published by a class of students in "History of American Technology and Culture", HST 325, at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, the history of the zipper is the work of Taylor Brann, which you can find here: http://thezipper.umwblogs.org/