Today, 24th of April 2012, Google is celebrating the legacy of Gideon Sundback. From the Google ‘zipper’ Doodle it is easy to determine that the logo has something to do with clothing or with the zipper itself.
This is indeed the case and today the Google Doodle is commemorating Gideon Sundback’s achievement.
Gideon Sundback (24/04/1880 – 21/06/1954), was a Swedish-American electrical engineer. One of his most famous inventions that have stood the test of time is the ‘zipper’ which he redesigned in December 1913.
(Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine, was first to receive a patent for an “Automatic Continuous Clothing Closure).
Sundback increased the number of fastening elements from four per inch to ten or eleven, introduced two facing rows of teeth that pulled into a single piece by the slider, and increased the opening for the teeth guided by the slider.
The patent for the “Separable Fastener” was issued in 1917. Gideon Sundback also created the manufacturing machine for the new device. The “S-L” or “scrapless” machine took a special Y-shaped wire and cut scoops from it, then punched the scoop dimple and nib, and clamped each scoop on a cloth tape to produce a continuous zipper chain. Within the first year of operation, Sundback’s machinery was producing a few hundred feet of fastener per day.
In the 1930s, a sales campaign began for children’s clothing featuring zippers. The campaign praised zippers for promoting self-reliance in young children by making it possible for them to dress in self-help clothing. The zipper beat the button in 1937 in the “Battle of the Fly”, after French fashion designers raved over zippers in men’s trousers. Esquire declared the zipper the “Newest Tailoring Idea for Men” and among the zippered fly’s many virtues was that it would exclude “The Possibility of Unintentional and Embarrassing Disarray.
The most recent innovation in the zipper’s design was the introduction of models that could open on both ends, as on jackets. Today the zipper is by far the most widespread fastener, and is found on clothing, luggage, leather goods, and various other objects – Source
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Google “Zipper” Doodle – Gideon Sundback
The Google “Zipper” Doodle logo today displays the normal colours of the Google Doodle, with the Doodle being embroidered. Descending the page runs a zipper which, when clicked and dragged, opens the Google search results for Gideon Sundback.
For more information about Google Doodles visit the
pages on the Car Site site.
Gideon Sundback History of the Zipper YouTube Video
Here is a short video about Gideon Sundback and the 24 April 2012 Google Doodle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVevnyiZpzk
