A paper clip (or paperclip) is a tool 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 one and a half 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. They are usually used to bind papers together for productivity and portability.
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 kinds of paper clips use a two-piece clamping system. Recent innovations include multi-colored plastic-coated paper clips and spring-fastened binder clips. Regular metal paper clips weigh about a gram.
History According to the Early Office Museum, the first patent for a bent wire paper clip was awarded in the United States to Samuel B. Fay in 1867. This clip was originally intended primarily for attaching tickets to fabric, although the patent recognized that it could be used to attach papers together. Fay received U.S. patent 64,088 on 23 April 1867. Although functional and practical, Fay's design along with the 50 other designs patented prior to 1899 are not considered reminiscent of the modern paperclip design known today. Another notable paper clip design was also patented in the United States by Erlman J. Wright on 24 July 1877, patent #193,389. This clip was advertised at that time for use in fastening together loose leaves of papers, documents, periodicals, newspapers etc. The most common type of wire paper clip still in use, the Gem paper clip, was never patented, but it was most likely in production in Britain in the early 1870s by "The Gem Manufacturing Company", according to the American expert on technological innovations, Professor Henry J. Petroski. He refers to an 1883 article about "Gem Paper-Fasteners", praising them for being "better than ordinary pins" for "binding together papers on the same subject, a bundle of letters, or pages of a manuscript". Since the 1883 article had no illustration of this early "Gem", it may have been different from modern paper clips of that name. The earliest illustration of its current form is in an 1893 advertisement for the "Gem Paper Clip". In 1904 Cushman & Denison registered a trademark for the "Gem" name in connection with paper clips. The announcement stated that it had been used since 1 March 1892, which may have been the time of its introduction in the United States. Paper clips are still sometimes called "Gem clips", and in Swedish the word for any paper clip is "gem" (but pronounced similar to English game). 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 27 April 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 a hundred 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. In the United States, National Paperclip Day is celebrated on 29 May. The Gem-type paperclip has become a symbol of inventive design, as confirmed below – although falsely – by its celebration as a Norwegian invention in 1899. More convincing is its appropriation as logo of the Year of Design (L'any del disseny) in Barcelona 2003, depicted on posters, T-shirts and other merchandise.
Unsupported claims It has been claimed that the paper clip was invented by Herbert Spencer (1820–1903), an English intellectual. He registered a "binding-pin" on 2 September 1846, which was made and sold by Adolphus Ackermann for over a year, advertised as "for holding loose manuscripts, sermons, weekly papers, and all unstitched publications". Spencer's design, approximately 15 cm (5.9 in) unfolded, looked more like a modern cotter pin than a modern paper clip.
Norwegian claim
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