Zippers provide easy opening and secure fastening to luggage, clothing, and even plastic bags. Although zippers are found in many everyday items today, the zipper did not immediately interest people when it was first invented.

Elias Howe (1819–1867), inventor of the sewing machine, patented the first zipper in 1851. He called it an "automatic, continuous clothing closure." Howe never marketed his invention, though. Whitcomb Judson patented his "clasp locker" in 1893. After its introduction at the World's Fair (see entry under 1900s—The Way We Lived in volume 1) in Chicago, Illinois, and the successful marking of his product through his Universal Fastener Company, he became known as the "Inventor of the Zipper."

Judson's invention laid the groundwork for modern zippers. Gideon Sundback, an employee of Universal Fastener Company, designed a zipper in 1913 that is much like the zippers found today. Sundback's "separable fastener" received a patent in 1917. The Universal Fastener Company...