The photo is of some funky colored plastic paper clips I have. I don’t know that they are as functional as regular metal paper clips, but they sure are pretty. I suppose that paper clips have been mostly replaced by staples. But I know some people do paper clip together stapled stacks of paper. I imagine people use a lot less paper clips and staples since the internet took over. I have unbent a metal paper clip and used it to unlock an bathroom door that was locked by mistake. I believe an unbent paper clip has myriad uses. I do remember in junior high for a time it was popular to just tear a strip in the bent corner of a stack of papers and fold it over instead of using paper clips. It worked OK, as long as you didn’t pull at that corner very much. Do you remember the talking paper clip that would give you advice in Microsoft Word? I loved that guy; he was so darn cute. Whoever invented the paper clip really revolutionized the business world. Not sure what they used to do before it — maybe just used multiple sizes of boxes to put papers in. Let’s find out more about the paper clip.
According to Wikipedia, a paper clip or paperclip is a device 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 almost two full 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.
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 other kinds of paper clips use a two-piece clamping system. Recent innovations include multicolored plastic-coated paper clips and spring-fastened binder clips.
History
According to the article “History of the Paper Clip” at officemuseum.com, a large majority of different paper clip models were made by bending single pieces of resilient spring steel wire. Three others were stamped from sheet metal (Eureka, Sheet Brass Gothic, Proco) and another four (Angell, Utility, Vise, Acme Correspondence) were made by folding small pieces of resilient sheet steel. One (Nifty) was made by bending a wire into a spiral and then flattening it.
The first paper clip was patented by Samuel B. Fay in 1867. This clip was originally intended primarily for attaching tickets to fabric, but the patent recognized that it could be used to attach papers together. There is no advertisement for — or other mention of — the Fay design until 1896. In 1896, the American Stationer announced that D. S. Gorman was the New York City distributor for a "new paperclip" named "Clinch;" this clip used the Fay design. Also in 1896, the Cinch Clip Co. in Buffalo, New York, was identified as the manufacturer of a paper clip named "Cinch," which also used the Fay design. It therefore appears unlikely that paper clips with the Fay design had significant, if any, sales prior to 1896. However, beginning in the late 1890s and for decades thereafter, the Fay design was widely advertised under many brand names for use in fastening papers. In 1918, the brand name "Fay" was used by the American Clip. Co. for a paper clip with the Fay patent design. A second paper clip design was patented by Erlman J. Wright in 1877. This clip was advertised at that time for use in fastening newspapers. A third paper clip was patented by Frank Angell in 1889.
The Gem paper clip — which was never patented, but which became by far the best-selling paper clip in the U.S. — was introduced in 1892 and has been advertised since 1893. In 1904, when Cushman & Denison applied for a trademark for the Gem clip, the company stated that it had used the Gem brand name for clips since 1892. And in a 1922 advertisement for the Gem paper clip, Cushman & Denison stated, "Thirty years ago we placed on the market the first 'Gem' Clip."
Speculation that the Gem paper clip originated in Britain by the early 1880s is incorrect. This speculation is based at least in part on references to "Gem Paper Fasteners" in publications dating from 1883 and 1884; these publications did not contain either illustrations or verbal descriptions of these fasteners. However, there is an 1881 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.
According to Wikipedia, 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 April 27 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. 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. But the original Gem type has for more than 100 years proved to be the most practical and consequently, by far the most popular. Its qualities — ease of use, gripping without tearing and storing without tangling — have been difficult to improve upon. National Paperclip Day is May 29.
The Gem-type paperclip has become a symbol of inventive design, as confirmed falsely by its celebration as a Norwegian invention in 1899. More convincing is its appropriation as logo of the Year of Design or L'any del disseny in Barcelona 2003, depicted on posters, T-shirts and other merchandise.
According to the article “History of the Paper Clip” at officemuseum.com, the 1900 trade publication Business stated that "The wire clip for holding office papers together has entirely superseded the use of the pin in all up-to-date offices." This evidence indicates that paper clips came into widespread use in U.S. offices in the late 1890s. According to Henry Petroski’s article “From Pins to Paper Clips” in “The Evolution of Useful Things:”
Steel wire was still new in the second half of the nineteenth century....[T]he widespread manufacture and use of the paper clip had to await not only the availability of the right wire but also the existence of machinery capable of tirelessly and reliably bending it in a flash into things that could be bought for pennies a box.
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 1904, Clinch Clips were advertised as "Cheaper than Pins." Around 1910 advertisements compare paper clips to straight pins for temporary attachment of papers. By contrast, early paper clip advertisements do not refer to staples.
Unsupported claim
According to Wikipedia, it has been claimed — though apparently without evidence — that Herbert Spencer, the originator of the term "survival of the fittest," invented the paper clip. He claimed in his autobiography to have invented a "binding-pin" that was distributed by Ackermann & Co., and he shows a drawing of the pin in his Appendix I. This pin looked more like a modern cotter pin than a modern paper clip, but it was designed to hold sheets of paper together. It is approximately 15 cm unfolded.
Norwegian claim
A Norwegian, Johan Vaaler (1866–1910), has erroneously been identified as the inventor of the paper clip. He was granted patents in Germany and in the United States in 1901 for a paper clip of similar design, but less functional and practical, because it lacked the last turn of the wire. 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, 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. Johan Vaaler began working for Alfred J. Bryns Patentkontor in Kristiania or Oslo in 1892 and was later promoted to office manager, a position he held until his death. 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. In the report of the first 50 years of the patent agency, he wrote an article in which he proclaimed Vaaler to be the inventor of the common paper clip. 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 Haakon VII 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.
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. 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" or two posts or poles, and be interpreted as a reference to the leader of the French Resistance, General Charles de Gaulle.
The post-war years saw a widespread consolidation of the paper clip as a national symbol. Authors of books and articles on the history of Norwegian technology eagerly seized it to make a thin story more substantial. They chose to overlook the fact that Vaaler's clip was not the same as the fully developed Gem-type clip. In 1989 a giant paper clip, almost 23 feet high, was erected on the campus of a commercial college near Oslo in honor of Vaaler, 90 years after his invention was patented. But this monument shows a Gem-type clip, not the one patented by Vaaler. The celebration of the alleged Norwegian origin of the paper clip culminated in 1999, 100 years after Vaaler submitted his application for a German patent. A commemorative stamp was issued that year, the first in a series to draw attention to Norwegian inventiveness. The background shows a facsimile of the German "Patentschrift." However, the figure in the foreground is not the paper clip depicted on that document, but the much better known "Gem." In 2005, the national biographical encyclopedia of Norway published the biography of Johan Vaaler, stating he was the inventor of the paper clip.
Other uses
Wire is versatile in its nature. Thus, a paper clip is a useful accessory in many kinds of mechanical work including computer work; the metal wire can be unfolded with a little force. Several devices call for a very thin rod to push a recessed button which the user might only rarely need. This is seen on most CD-ROM drives as an "emergency eject" should the power fail; also on early floppy disk drives, including the early Macintosh. Various smartphones require the use of a long thin object such as a paper clip to eject the SIM card and some Palm PDAs advise the use of a paper clip to reset the device. The track ball can be removed from early Logitech pointing devices using a paper clip as the key to the bezel. A paper clip bent into a "U" can be used to start an ATX PSU without connecting it to a motherboard; connect the green to a black on the motherboard header. One or more paper clips can make a loopback device for a RS232 interface or indeed many interfaces. A paper clip could be installed in a Commodore 1541 disk-drive as a flexible head-stop. The steel wire from a paperclip can be used in dentistry to form a dental post.
Paper clips can be bent into a crude but sometimes effective lock picking device. Some types of handcuffs can be unfastened using paper clips. There are two approaches. The first one is to unfold the clip in a line and then twist the end in a right angle, trying to imitate a key and using it to lift the lock fixator. The second approach — which is more feasible but needs some practice — is to use the semi-unfolded clip kink for lifting when the clip is inserted through the hole where the handcuffs are closed.
A paper clip image is the standard image for an attachment in an email client.
Operation Paperclip
Operation Paperclip was a secret United States intelligence program in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers and technicians were taken from former Nazi Germany to the U.S. for government employment after the end of World War II in Europe between 1945 and 1959. Conducted by the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency, it was largely carried out by special agents of the U.S. Army's Counterintelligence Corps. Many of these personnel were former members — and some were former leaders — of the Nazi Party. The primary purpose for Operation Paperclip was U.S. military advantage in the Soviet–American Cold War and the Space Race.
Paper Clips film
“Paper Clips” is a 2004 American documentary film written and produced by Joe Fab, and directed by Fab and Elliot Berlin, about the Paper Clips Project, in which a middle school class tries to collect 6 million paper clips to represent the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II. “Paper Clips” takes place in the rural, blue-collar Tennessee community of Whitwell, where a middle-school class attempts to gauge the magnitude of World War II's Holocaust by collecting paper clips, each of which represents a human life lost in the Nazis' slaughter of Jews. The idea came in 1998 from three of the teachers at the school and was completed in their eighth-grade classrooms. The students ultimately succeeded in collecting over 25 million paperclips.
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