UNZIPPING HISTORY

 

By Mary Davis

National Zipper Day is April 29^th.

 

I don’t think about zippers on a daily basis even though I use them almost every day. They are so much a part of life, yet we hardly consider them even while zipping them up or down. Zippers are on everything from clothing, luggage, purses, camping gear, and a wide array of other items. I can’t imagine life without this marvelous modern device. Well, I can imagine it, but I don’t like it.

 

We have not one but three inventors to thank for the modern zipper.

 

It all started with Elias Howe, Jr., who invented the lockstitch sewing machine in 1846. A few years later, he invented the predecessor to the modern zipper, receiving a patent in 1851 for his “Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure”. This device was a series of movable clasps connected with a drawstring. So, a zipper-ish. However, he didn’t pursue marketing it and doesn’t always get credit for inventing the “zipper.”

 

Elias Howe, Jr.

Forty-two years later, Whitcomb Judson developed the “clasp locker” similar to Howe’s description in his patent. Judson’s complicated hook-and-eye system debuted at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. He and businessman Colonel Lewis Walker formed the Universal Fastener Company to produce the device. However, it wasn’t a huge hit.

 

Whitcomb Judson

Swedish-born Gideon Sundbäck was hired by Judson and Walker’s Universal Fastener Company and added his stamp on the invention in 1913. He increased the number of teeth per inch from four to ten or eleven and received a patent for it in 1917. He also developed a machine to manufacture this new version of the separable fastener. Unfortunately, the clasp locker struggled to find favor in the clothing industry.

 

Gideon Sundbäck

So how did this modern marvel go from clasp locker or separable fastener to zipper? A name that perfectly fit it and so much easier to say. We have the B. F. Goodrich Company to thank for that in 1923. They used the device on a new style of rubber boots (a.k.a. galoshes). The fastener made a zip sound, so Goodrich called it a zipper. The name stuck. Even so, zippers still didn’t find success and were mainly relegated to boots and tobacco pouches.

 

In the 1930s, a campaign was launched to put zippers in children’s clothing to help them be independent and dress themselves. But it wasn’t until 1937 when a French fashion designer praised the zipper as perfect for men’s trousers and the “Battle of the Fly” that the zipper won out over buttons. Soon, these revolutionary fasteners zipped into clothing everywhere.

 

Now, thousands of miles of zippers are produced every day to meet our needs. Amen!

 

THE QUILTING CIRCLE SERIES Box Set

Historical Romance Series

By Mary Davis

THE WIDOW’S PLIGHT (Book1) – Will a secret clouding a single mother’s past cost Lily her loved ones?

THE DAUGHTER’S PREDICAMENT (Book2) *SELAH & WRMA Finalist* – As Isabelle’s romance prospects turn in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams.

THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (Book3) *SELAH Winner* – Nicole heads down the mountain to fetch herself a husband. Can she learn to be enough of a lady to snag the handsome rancher?

THE DÉBUTANTE’S SECRET (Book4) – Complications arise when a fancy French lady steps off the train and into Deputy Montana’s arms.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNZPRRS2/ref=sr_1_7?crid=3NJNTQ5SD1WGB&keywords=the+quilting+circle+by+mary+davis&qid=1700957455&s=digital-text&sprefix=%2Cdigital-text%2C155&sr=1-7

 

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle Book 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3) is a SELAH Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT, THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection, Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of thirty-seven years and one cat. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at: Books2Read Newsletter Blog FB FB Readers Group Amazon GoodReads BookBub

Sources

https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-zipper-4066245

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipper

https://www.backthenhistory.com/articles/the-history-of-zippers

https://www.threadsmagazine.com/2021/04/29/a-brief-history-of-the-zipper

https://historycooperative.org/who-invented-the-zipper/

https://www.thomasnet.com/articles/hardware/zipper-history/

https://blog.library.si.edu/blog/2010/05/03/the-up-an-down-history-of-the-zipper/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elias_Howe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitcomb_L._Judson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gideon_Sundback

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galoshes

 

The Fateful Voyage of the Exodus 1947

By Sherri Stewart

www.worldjewishcongress.com

The SS President Warfield, a US freight passenger ship, had seen better days. Having been launched in 1928, it originally sailed the Chesapeake Bay, but it was transferred to England, where it was deployed in the Normandy invasion (June 1944). The old ship was returned to US waters after World War II, but its greatest voyage was yet to occur.

www.postcardhistory.net

Hagana, an underground Jewish organization, covertly bought the SS President Warfield in order to transport Jews who sought to immigrate to Palestine. The plight of the ship’s passengers would capture the world’s attention at that time and later on through the film, Exodus.

In July 1947, the President Warfield left France for Palestine, which was under British mandate. The ship carried over 4,500 Jewish men, women, and children, all of whom were either displaced people or survivors of the Holocaust. Soon after it left France, the ship’s name was changed to Exodus 1947 for its similarity to the Jewish exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land thousands of years before.

www.theguardian.com

Even before the ship reached Palestine’s waters, British destroyers surrounded it. On July 18, British naval forces attacked the Exodus1947.A crew member and two passengers were killed. Dozens of passengers suffered bullet wounds and other injuries.

To make an example of the Exodus 1947, the British towed the ship to Haifa and transferred the passengers onto three navy transports which returned to Europe. The ships first landed at Port-de-Bouc, France, where the passengers were ordered by the British Navy to disembark, but the passengers, including many orphaned children, refused to disembark and declared a hunger strike which lasted 24 days. Mounting pressure from international media coverage pressured British authorities to find a solution.

www.dailymail.com.uk

The ships sat for three weeks in the sweltering summer heat, but the passengers refused to disembark, and the French authorities were unwilling to force them to leave. The British government then transported the passengers to Hamburg where the passengers were sent to displaced persons camps.

Displaced persons in camps all over Europe protested and staged hunger strikes when they heard the news. Large protests erupted on both sides of the Atlantic. The ensuing public embarrassment for Britain played a significant role in the diplomatic swing of sympathy toward the Jews, and played a factor in the establishment of the country of Israel in 1948, less than a year later. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/exodus-1947

www.farkash-gallery.com

Selah Award finalist Sherri Stewart loves a clean novel, sprinkled with romance and a strong message that challenges her faith. She spends her working hours with books—either editing others’ manuscripts or writing her own. Her passions are traveling to the settings of her books and sampling the food. She traveled to Paris for this book, and she works daily on her French and German although she doesn’t need to since everyone speaks English. A widow, Sherri lives in Orlando with her lazy dog, Lily. She shares recipes, tidbits of the book’s locations, and other authors' books in her newsletter.
Subscribe at http://eepurl.com/gZ-mv9

Secrets Dark and Deep

TV anchor, Maddie Caldecott, has a secret so deeply buried within that she doesn’t remember it. But the man called Absalom knows her secret, and his threats to exact his revenge are becoming more and more intrusive. As an investigative reporter, Maddie can dig out the truth of any story, but she can’t unearth the secret she’s blocked until it’s too late.

Police Detective, Brody Messner, is at his wits end. How can he protect Maddie if she resists his every suggestion? His need to protect her has become personal. From Orlando to Zürich, he follows her, trying to stay one step ahead of her assailant—all of his notes to her, and the song. https://bit.ly/49gE1wp

 

 

Introductions Please! (with M.J. Elliott)

By Matthew J. Elliott

The Family

I am sure you are wondering... Why is this post up today? Doesn't he post on the 1st of every month? Well, yes, I do, but today is different from my normal posts. In truth, I was given the opportunity to fill in for someone else and thought it would be a great way to share more about myself. So, this post is all about who I am, where I came from, and why I do what I do.

My name is Matthew James Elliott (M.J. Elliott) and my wife Traci and I live in Northern Oklahoma with our three children. We have been together since 2010 and oddly enough, we both consider ourselves writers. Both of us have degrees from OkWU in some kind of ministry, and enjoy long walks, restful vacations, and spending time with our family, of course.

My Inspirational Mother

As a child, writing was insanely difficult for me because I have visual dyslexia, ADHD, and a short attention span, 😉. So making the time to sit down and write something down was more challenging than learning how to drive. Through the encouragement from my late mother, who always dreamed I would become a writer, I could find a way to overcome my struggles and write down words. While it was, and still is, difficult to break through writing block walls and a severe lack of self-confidence, I continued to write devotionals and church curriculums until 2017.

At this point, I took an extended vacation from writing so I could work through some personal struggles and also so I could actually provide for my growing family. In May of 2023, something drastic changed. My imagination began to soar into some unexpected places in the Bible, and thus, I became a Biblical Historical Fiction Writer and I am forever drawn to it. One of the most important lessons I have learned through everything is the value of imagination, and how using it can link the past and the future to the present in more ways than one. What about you though? Where are you from and what are some lessons you have learned in life?

~ Highlighted Release ~

The Cyprus Journal is Coming Soon! May 5th, 2024!

One Young Man. His Significant Story. A Witness of the Early Church.

Many knew him as the young cousin to Barnabas the Encourager, the son of Mary who offered her home to honor the Savior and those who followed Him, or even the man who abandoned Paul on his First Missionary Journey, but there is more to his story. His story is one of new beginnings, a promise fulfilled, and a man who overcame fear of the unknown.

History of the Great American Road Trip

Historic Route 66 - Snow Covered Peaks; public domain image

History of The Great American Road Trip

Not so long ago in America, taking a vacation meant packing up luggage, an ice chest, possibly the dog, and of course the family and setting off on a road trip. The rise of air travel changed this scenario for some, but definitely not for everyone. Pulbished in 2021, the 2019–2020 Portrait of American Travelers® survey by MMGY Global revealed a resurgence in road travel. Since 2015, the survey recorded a 64% yearly increase in road trips. The trend is far from over, with 50% of Americans planning to travel more in 2024. Of those, 63% will hit the road.

I am writing this in a remote cabin on a river in California, one of many stops on my own road trip adventure. The April 8th total eclipse of the sun sent my husband and me across six states in our SUV to Texas. We were not alone. Millions traveled to the path of totality, which included parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. On the way home, I keep running into eclipse travelers. While waiting for tables at restaurants or for admittance to tourist attractions, we swap impressions of totality. Restaurant and service staff confirm that the recent crush of new business is due to eclipse travelers.

The great American road trip seems here to stay. After driving paved-over stretches of the Old Oregon Trail and Route 66, it makes me smile that essential slice of American history lives on. Most people take the interstate nowadays, but for those who seek roads less traveled, the rewards are substantial.

The opportunities for safe road travel abound today, but this wasn’t always the case. At the turn of the 20th century, wretched roads and the limited capabilities of horses, wagons and coaches hampered travel. Most covered long distances by steam locomotive. However, a few hardy souls set off on horseless carriage excursions. These intrepid individuals began the tradition of adventuring by private motorized vehicle that we enjoy today.

1899 Quinby Electric Carriage; public domain image

When recalling his 1903 trip from Colorado Springs to Santa Fe, attorney Phillip Delany declared: “and so the machine is conquering the old frontier, carrying the thudding of modern mechanics into the land of romance. . . .” Much taken with the idea, he went on to note: “The trails of Kit Carson and Boone and Crockett, and the rest of the early frontiersmen stretch out before the adventurous automobilist.”

While exploration appealed to adventurers like Delany, others wanted to escape the rigors of city life into a romanticized dream of nomadic travel. These tourists belonged to the upper-middle class. The cost of an automobile (between $650 and $1,300) placed owning one beyond the reach of most households. Besides this constraint, gas stations and garages were not largely available outside city limits. While a wealthy person might overcome such limitations, the average American could not.

Bad roads increased the likelihood of breakdowns and misadventures. One motorist in the Wyoming of 1909 described the roads he traveled as “deep ruts, high centers, rocks, loose and solid; steep grades, washouts, or gullies…” He also described “unbridged streams, sand, alkali dust, gumbo, and plain mud” as “common abominations.” Venturing off the beaten path for long distances demanded a great deal of self reliance. Mishaps could and did happen.

The first successful transcontinental journey was undertaken on a whim and a $50 bet in the spring of 1903. Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson, his friend, Sewall K. Crocker, and a bulldog named Bud set off from San Francisco in a 20-horsepower Winton touring car. This feat inspired others. 

Horatio Nelson Jackson, public domain image

Between 1901 and 1908, transcontinental drivers loaded their vehicles with numerous tools, sleeping bags, water carriers, camp stoves, navigational instruments, first aid supplies, rain-proof ponchos, pith helmets, tire chains, spare parts, firearms, and more. Mary C. Bedell published her gear list in Modern Gypsies, her 1924 account of auto touring: “tent, duffle bags, gasoline stove, Adirondack grate and a kit of aluminum kettles, with coffee pot and enamel cups and saucers inside.” This equipment increased the weight of her fully loaded automobile by “four or five hundred pounds” and gave the automobile a striking resemblance “to a hermit crab staggering across the ocean floor burdened with its house on its back.”

In time, wages rose and prices for used cars fell. Henry Ford introduced the Model T in 1908, improving the availability and affordability of automobiles. The increasing number of automobile travelers sparked the interest of merchants across America. Gas stations, garages, roadside diners, and hotels sprang up along more traveled routes. 

Eventually, interconnected roads became highways like Route 66. The great American road trip was born.

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales "written" in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes western historical romance and medieval epic fantasy. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all her novels in proportions dictated by their genre.

Learn more about Janalyn Voigt and her book series.