Forty-four years later, another American inventor, Whitcomb Judson, improved Howe's little invention and named it "buckle lock". Unlike the zipper we are familiar with today, the "hook lock" consists of two rows of hook eyes and a toothed belt, which is a bit clumsy.
With this invention, Judith participated hopefully in the World Expo that opened in Chicago that year. However, in that exhibition which was visited by 2,654.38 million people, Judith only sold 20 "hook locks".
Judison was not discouraged by this. The following year, he and his friends raised funds to set up the world's first zipper factory-Cosmos Fastener Company. Oddly enough, Judith's biggest worry at that time was not that the product could not be sold, but that he could not even find anyone willing to try this new product. At first, Judison hoped it could replace the complicated buckles on women's boots, but the boot manufacturers were unwilling to buy it. The reason may be that this fastener is easy to rust and often gets stuck. 1in April, 896, Judith finally got the first deal: several officials of the US Postal Service ordered 20 bags with "hooks and locks", but the first batch of zipper bags were quickly discarded due to mechanical failure, and the post office people never came again.
In 1905, Judison introduced a new type of separated patent clamp: C-curity. This time, Judison clearly positioned the target market as women's wear, and made great efforts to come up with a series of advertisements with a strong sense of history:
"1782, Mrs. Hintons taped up her costume at the Dulland Theatre";
1850, at the Castle Garden Theatre, Janya Linde appeared with a hook-eye belt;
"190 1 year, Lillian Rosell buckled her button in Weber Fred Concert Hall";
"And now: all you have to do is pull it gently-the skirt will never be loosened inadvertently again. This is the wonder of the' C-Curity' brand skirt.
Samburke's explanatory document for applying for a zipper patent.
"Nothing" represents advanced productive forces.
In addition to this montage advertisement, Judison also used the business strategy of "teaching you how to use it by hand" when promoting products. In his view, irresponsible grocery store guys can't make customers fully realize how convenient this new product can provide. Therefore, he provided detailed instructions for each pair of "safe" teeth. Facts have proved that the card tooth manual is equivalent to the digital product manual for consumers at that time and today. Before the end of the Second World War, the chuck was always equipped with instructions including the following precautions:
"Please pay attention to hold the skirt when opening the clamping teeth to prevent the skirt from being torn";
"When closing your teeth with one hand, the other hand should grasp the skirt hem and then pull it to the end without stopping";
If you can't pull it, pull it back first. If you feel relaxed, pull it again. Don't overdo it.
Compared with the first generation of zippers, the teeth of "C-curity" have indeed made great progress, but its shortcomings are still obvious: the separated design leads to poor firmness. Henry Petrovsky once wrote in his monograph "The Evolution of Practical Goods" that this kind of zipper often bursts or gets stuck at "the most inconvenient time", allowing users to sweep the floor politely. In addition, the cost of this card tooth is extremely high, and no clothing manufacturer is willing to accept this fancy thing with double cost.
However, the bleak market prospects did not scare Judith. After he renamed the company "Automatic Eye Checking Company", he hired a group of salesmen to travel across the ocean and go to Europe to explore new markets.
At first, Europeans didn't seem to have much interest in this invention. However, just as Judith's plan came to an end, the fate of zipper took a major turn-Canadian immigrant Gideon Sundback joined Judith's company. Sambok was very clever and diligent, and soon became the chief designer of the company. 1906, Sambo launched a new brand "Plako" for the company.
Although "Plako" and "C-curity" have the same defects, Samburke's momentum still touched Judith. Determined to popularize zippers all over the world, the "father of modern zippers" decided to entrust the company to Samburke. Finally, it proved that Judith used the right person. 19 13 years, Sambo designed a brand-new "hook-free fastener". Speaking of the name of this new product, there are some allusions. At that time, "nothing" represented advanced productive forces. People call cars "cars without horses" and radio "radios". From this point of view, "toothless fastener" belonged to the category of trendy products at that time.
Although "toothless fastener" is fashionable, it is still a complete failure in the market. Soon, Sambok introduced a new product, which is more flexible and coated with rust inhibitor. The number of buckle teeth has increased from 4 to 65,438+00 per inch, which makes the bite tighter and the texture smoother. This new product with the embryonic form of modern zipper was finally named "Toothless Fastener No.2". Soon after, Sambok simply renamed the company "Toothless Fastener Company".
19 14 years, the attitude of the clothing industry towards zipper products has finally loosened, and a few clothing manufacturers expressed their willingness to try "No.2 toothless buckle". A sportswear company also launched a skirt with "toothless buttons" on the front and back on 19 16.
"Hook lock"
Transition from military to civilian use
However, it was war that really brought the zipper to the market. During World War I, toothless fasteners were used in military moth-proof wardrobes and sleeping bags to meet the needs of rapid marching. Soon after, a company that designs clothes for pilots also installed this fastener on aviation suits. Perhaps because pilots generally like to feel different, the zipper flight suit produced by this company sold very well as soon as it went on the market. During World War II, the zipper flight suit became an industrial standard, which has been in use ever since.
The person who made "Toothless Fastener Company" enter a new stage was Robert J. Iveig. This ordinary man who just wants to get rich submitted a successful marketing plan to the company: designing toothless fasteners for military pockets. Because the army at that time was suffering from the lack of easy-to-seal pockets, the wallet named after Evig became popular quickly after its launch, and Thunberg's company saw the excellent situation of "demand exceeds supply" for the first time. By the end of World War I, the company had sold 24,000 "Evig" wallets and made a profit of $77,000.
After the propaganda of munitions in kind, the new fastening method that Judith and Sam Burke have painstakingly improved for many years has finally opened up the civilian market. Toothless fasteners "No.3", "No.4" and "No.5" have gradually appeared on raincoats, swimsuits, bathrobes and tennis rackets. Thunberg is no longer worried about the way out of the product, and the next thing to deal with is the personalized solutions put forward by different employers. 19 19, "Toothless Fastener Company" jointly launched "Toothless Fastener" with tobacco merchants with great business vision. By the mid-1920s, the production and sales of cigarette bag fasteners had accounted for 70% of the company's total business.
On 1923, B.F. goodrich Shoes Company will introduce a new type of high rubber shoes to the market. In order to attract customers' attention to the maximum extent, goodrich, the boss of the company, ordered 6.5438+0.5 million fasteners from Sandberg's company. Goodrich is an old hand in commercial warfare. He got inspiration from the sound of pulling fasteners (z-z-z-i-p) and invented the word "zipper" which is familiar to people today. This catchy name not only makes "zipper overshoes" deeply loved by consumers, but also finds easy-to-identify symbols for zippers.
Men finally have a "pants door guardian"
Zippers finally occupied the clothing market in the 1930s. At that time, there was a children's wear competition in the clothing industry, and children's wear with zippers finally stood out, because people believed that zippers could improve children's self-confidence and autonomy. From 65438 to 0935, Eliza Simparier, a fashion designer, boldly launched a series of fashions featuring zipper design. At the same time, American British writer A·D· Huxley (grandson of British naturalist T H Huxley) mentioned the idea of using zipper as a man's "pants door" in his masterpiece Brave New World.
With the help of the fashion created by the writer, the zipper finally has a new identity in 1937-a man's "pants door guardian". In this regard, French fashion designers unanimously admire it, not all because of convenience, but because it looks sexy! The famous fashion magazine "Gentleman" commented that zipper is "the most novel design concept for men's clothing", and "with it, the embarrassing negligence will never return". Because the time of contact with zippers was too short, people at that time obviously didn't think about what kind of embarrassment zippers would bring to people, and they didn't know how many people would be hurt inexplicably because of zippers, let alone that a president in the United States would almost step down because of zippers. However, in any case, the days when zippers were teetering were finally over.
Nowadays, zippers of various materials can be seen everywhere. However, looking back at the difficult development history of zipper, people will find that zipper is actually an inevitable choice for the development of the times, and it is accompanied by the gradual evolution of human life philosophy. Thanks to the persistent entrepreneurial spirit of Judith and Thunberg, we can enjoy the convenience brought by this important invention. Finally, the history of zipper development also shows how important a new invention has been proved.