However, beginning in the late s and for decades thereafter, the Fay design was widely advertised under many brand names for use in fastening papers. In , the brand name "Fay" was used by the American Clip. A second paper clip design was patented by Erlman J. Wright in This clip was advertised at that time for use in fastening newspapers. A third paper clip was patented by Frank Angell in This speculation is based at least in part on references to "Gem Paper Fasteners" in publications dating from and ; these publications did not contain either illustrations or verbal descriptions of these fasteners.
However, the Early Office Museum has found an publication with an illustration that shows that Tower's Gem Paper Fasteners were staples with legs that were bent toward each other after they were manually inserted through slits cut in papers. They were not paper clips. Advertisement for Gem Paper Fasteners, Britain, When did paper clips come into widespread use in offices? A patent application filed at the end of indicated that a number of different paper clips were in use.
A flood of paper clip patents were issued beginning in A trade publication stated that "The wire clip for holding office papers together has entirely superseded the use of the pin in all up-to-date offices. Why weren't bent-wire paper clips marketed earlier?
According to Petroski, "Steel wire was still new in the second half of the nineteenth century The two earliest patents indicate that bent-wire paper clips could be used in lieu of pins, sewing, "pointed bent-over paper fasteners," and eyelets.
In , Clinch Clips were advertised as "Cheaper than Pins. By contrast, early paper clip advertisements do not refer to staples.
Many designs were initially protected by patents. As a result, other manufacturers had to come up with different designs. Also, no single paper clip design is optimal for all purposes. In marketing paper clips, suppliers emphasized the superiority of their designs on one or two of the following characteristics: 1. Does not catch, mutilate, or tear papers 2. Does not get tangled with other clips in the box 3. Holds a thick set of papers 4. Grips firmly, holds papers securely 5.
Is flat or thin and takes less space in files 6. Is easily inserted 7. Is light weight and requires less postage 8. Is non-deforming 9. Is cheap e. The Early Paper Clip Gallery below identifies every paper clip that we are aware of that has a patent date before the end of plus every one for which we have found an advertisement, box, or example but excluding modern plastic and decorative paper clips, e.
Many additional designs that are not shown here were patented. Presumably most of these were not advertised widely or for long, if at all. In the case of paper clips patented before the end of , if we do not have an advertisement or box that tells us the brand name of the clip, we have identified the clip using the patent holder's last name in italics.
We did not include paper clips that were patented after unless we could find evidence that they were produced. We used that cutoff date because 13 paper clip patents were awarded in , 10 of them to one inventor, George W. Of the latter 10, only three appear to have been produced Banjo, Ring, Improved Gem.
Where did the Early Office Museum obtain the information on this web page? The information on this page is based on our review of patents, early trade publications, artifacts, and other primary sources. As a result, unlike much of the information on the history of the paper clip that is available on the internet, the information presented here is accurate. Berry for sharing his patent and trademark research on paper clips. Would you like to swap, sell, donate, or purchase early paper clips?
If the Early Office Museum has an example of a particular paper clip, we put an "X" at the end of the text in the box in the right-hand column in the pertinent row of the table below. We have duplicates of most of those, but not all. We would be happy to swap our duplicate early paper clips for ones we do not have. We will also sell duplicates, and we will purchase or accept donations of ones we do not have. Please email the Curator: eomcurator, followed by , followed by hotmail.
Made by M. Schooley, Homestead, Pa. The patent states: "I am aware that prior to my invention paper-clips have been made somewhat similar to mine in their general idea. Because the complete clips are not visible, we are unable to match them to patent diagrams.
We commuted to school and parked in a lot with meters. Being poor college students we were interested in feeding the meters with something other than money, and we had heard that you could use 'paper clips'. Of course, this made no sense to us until my buddy bought a box of Nifty Clips.
We put a Nifty Clip in the dime slot of the meter, and a penny in the nickel slot, and wind the meter up to 4 hours. The company once estimated that it received at least 10 letters a month suggesting alternative designs. Yet to most people, the Gem simply is the paper clip. This article was originally published with the title "The Paper Clip" in Scientific American , 3, 85 September Already a subscriber?
Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. Go Paperless with Digital. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile.
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