A paper clip (or paperclip) is a tool used to hold sheets of paper together, usually made of steel wire bent to a looped shape (though some are covered in plastic). Most paper clips are variations of the Gem type introduced in the 1890s or earlier, characterized by the one and a half loops made by the wire. Common to paper clips proper is their utilization of torsion and elasticity in the wire, and friction between wire and paper. When a moderate number of sheets are inserted between the two "tongues" of the clip, the tongues will be forced apart and cause torsion in the bend of the wire to grip the sheets together. They are usually used to bind papers together for productivity and portability.
Shape and composition Paper clips usually have an oblong shape with straight sides, but may also be triangular or circular, or have more elaborate shapes. The most common material is steel or some other metal, but molded plastic is also used. Some kinds of paper clips use a two-piece clamping system. Recent innovations include multi-colored plastic-coated paper clips and spring-fastened binder clips. Regular metal paper clips weigh about a gram.
History According to the Early Office Museum, the first patent for a bent wire paper clip was awarded in the United States to Samuel B. Fay in 1867.Grace, Valerie (28 December 2003). "Get a grip: Popularity of paper clips continue through the years". The Times Recorder (Zanesville, Ohio, U.S.). p. D1. This clip was originally intended primarily for attaching tickets to fabric, although the patent recognized that it could be used to attach papers together. Fay received U.S. patent 64,088 on 23 April 1867. Although functional and practical, Fay's design along with the 50 other designs patented prior to 1899 are not considered reminiscent of the modern paperclip design known today. Another notable paper clip design was also patented in the United States by Erlman J. Wright on 24 July 1877, patent #193,389. This clip was advertised at that time for use in fastening together loose leaves of papers, documents, periodicals, newspapers etc.
The most common type of wire paper clip still in use, the Gem paper clip, was never patented, but it was most likely in production in Britain in the early 1870s by "The Gem Manufacturing Company", according to the American expert on technological innovations, Professor Henry J. Petroski.Petroski, Henry: "Polishing the Gem: A First-Year Design Project", Journal of Engineering Education, October 1998, p. 445 He refers to an 1883 article about "Gem Paper-Fasteners", praising them for being "better than ordinary pins" for "binding together papers on the same subject, a bundle of letters, or pages of a manuscript".Penn, Arthur: The Home Library, Appleton, New York, 1883 Since the 1883 article had no illustration of this early "Gem", it may have been different from modern paper clips of that name.
The earliest illustration of its current form is in an 1893 advertisement for the "Gem Paper Clip".History of the Paper Clip. Ad from Cushman & Denison, in The American Lawyer, Sept 1893, p. 3. In 1904 Cushman & Denison registered a trademark for the "Gem" name in connection with paper clips. The announcement stated that it had been used since 1 March 1892, which may have been the time of its introduction in the United States. Paper clips are still sometimes called "Gem clips", and in Swedish the word for any paper clip is "gem" (but pronounced similar to English game).
Definite proof that the modern type of paper clip was well known in 1899 at the latest, is the patent granted to William Middlebrook of Waterbury, Connecticut on 27 April of that year for a "Machine for making wire paper clips". The drawing clearly shows that the product is a perfect clip of the Gem type.; "From Pins to Paper Clips"; "Paper Clips and Design" The fact that Middlebrook did not mention it by name suggests that it was already well known at the time. Since then countless variations on the same theme have been patented. Some have pointed instead of rounded ends, some have the end of one loop bent slightly to make it easier to insert sheets of paper, and some have wires with undulations or barbs to get a better grip. In addition, purely aesthetic variants have been patented, clips with triangular, star, or round shapes. Appendix: A selected list of U.S. Patents for paper clips. Journal of Engineering Education, 1998, p. 449. But the original Gem type has for more than a hundred years proved to be the most practical, and consequently by far the most popular. Its qualitiesease of use, gripping without tearing, and storing without tanglinghave been difficult to improve upon. In the United States, National Paperclip Day is celebrated on 29 May.
The Gem-type paperclip has become a symbol of inventive design, as confirmed belowalthough falselyby its celebration as a Norwegian invention in 1899. More convincing is its appropriation as logo of the Year of Design () in Barcelona 2003, depicted on posters, T-shirts and other merchandise.
Unsupported claims It has been claimed that the paper clip was invented by Herbert Spencer (1820–1903), an English intellectual. He registered a "binding-pin" on 2 September 1846, which was made and sold by Adolphus Ackermann for over a year,Son of Rudolph Ackermann; see Spencer (1904) p.354 "Mr. Ackermann who was a bad man of business, and who, failing not long afterwards, shot himself"; and advertised as "for holding loose manuscripts, sermons, weekly papers, and all unstitched publications". Spencer's design, approximately unfolded, looked more like a modern cotter pin than a modern paper clip.
Norwegian claim
Norwegian Johan Vaaler (1866–1910) has been identified as the inventor of the paper clip. He was granted patents in GermanyApplication dated 12 November 1899, Patentschrift no. 121067, patent granted 6 June 1901. and in the United StatesUS Patent No. 675,761 4 June 1901. (1901) for a paper clip of similar design, but less functional and practical. Because it was more complicated to insert into the paper, Vaaler probably did not know that a better product was already on the market, although not yet in Norway. His version was never manufactured and never marketed because the superior Gem was already available.
Long after Vaaler's death, his countrymen created a national myth based on the false assumption that the paper clip was invented by an unrecognized Norwegian genius. Norwegian dictionaries since the 1950s have mentioned Vaaler as the inventor of the paper clip,"Binders" Aschehougs konversasjonsleksikon, Oslo 1975, vol. 2, p. 695. and that myth later found its way into international dictionaries and much of the international literature on paper clips.
Vaaler probably succeeded in having his design patented abroad, despite the previous existence of more useful paper clips, because patent authorities at that time were quite liberal and rewarded any marginal modification of existing inventions.Petroski, Henry "The Evolution of Artifacts", American Scientist, Volume 80, 1992, pp. 416–20. Johan Vaaler began working for Alfred J. Bryns Patentkontor in Kristiania in 1892 and was later promoted to office manager, a position he held until his death.Holst, Wilhelm: "Johan Vaaler", Studenterne fra 1887, Kristiania 1912. As the employee of a patent office, he could easily have obtained a patent in Norway. His reasons for applying abroad are not known; it is possible that he wanted to secure the commercial rights internationally. Also, he may have been aware that a Norwegian manufacturer would find it difficult to introduce a new invention abroad, starting from the small home market.
Vaaler's patents expired quietly, while the "Gem" was used worldwide, including his own country. The failure of his design was its impracticality. Without the two full loops of the fully developed paper clip, it was difficult to insert sheets of paper into his clip. One could manipulate the end of the inner wire so that it could receive the sheet, but the outer wire was a dead end because it could not exploit the torsion principle. The clip would instead stand out like a keel, perpendicular to the sheet of paper. The impracticality of Vaaler's design may easily be demonstrated by cutting off the last outer loop and one long side from a regular Gem clip.
National symbol The originator of the Norwegian paper clip myth was an engineer of the Norwegian national patent agency who visited Germany in the 1920s to register Norwegian patents in that country. He came across Vaaler's patent but failed to detect that it was not the same as the then-common Gem-type clip.Vaaler's forgotten German patent was found by patent engineer Halvard Foss of The Norwegian Industrial Property Office (Patentstyret) while looking for patents granted to Norwegians in the German patent office. "I made this discovery known to my colleagues", Foss stated in an interview with the weekly Amagasinet no. 52, 1988. In the report of the first fifty years of the patent agency, he wrote an article in which he proclaimed Vaaler to be the inventor of the common paper clip.Foss, Halvard: "Den frittstående oppfinner", Styret for det industrielle rettsvern 50 år, Oslo 1961, p. 190. This piece of information found its way into some Norwegian encyclopedias after World War II.
Events of that war contributed greatly to the mythical status of the paper clip. Patriots wore them in their lapels as a symbol of resistance to the German occupiers and local Nazi authorities when other signs of resistance, such as flag pins or pins showing the cipher of the exiled King HaakonVII of Norway, were forbidden. Those wearing them did not yet see them as national symbols, as the myth of their Norwegian origin was not commonly known at the time. The clips were meant to denote solidarity and unity ("we are bound together"). The wearing of paper clips was soon prohibited, and people wearing them could risk severe punishment.Bø, Finn: Forbuden frukt (First edition 1945), Oslo 1995, .
The leading Norwegian encyclopedia mentioned the role of the paper clip as a symbol of resistance in a supplementary volume in 1952 but did not yet proclaim it a Norwegian invention.Aschehougs konversasjonsleksikon, supplementsbind, Oslo 1952. That information was added in later editions. According to the 1974 edition, the idea of using the paper clip to denote resistance originated in France. A clip worn on a lapel or front pocket could be seen as "deux gaules" (two posts or poles) and be interpreted as a reference to the leader of the French Resistance, General Charles de Gaulle.Aschehougs konversasjonsleksikon, Oslo 1974, Vol. 2, p. 695.