Even office supplies need to be celebrated. These things make our lives easier, don’t they?
Paper Clip: a flat or nearly flat piece of metal that slides over an edge of a set of papers and holds the papers together without being bent or pinched by the user and without piercing the papers.
The paper clip was patented by Samuel B. Fay in 1867. The ones we are most used to seeing and using (like the one in the photo above) is the Gem Paper Clip. These have been in use since just before 1900.
For more information on the history of the paper clip, visit OfficeMuseum.com. They’ve got a nice article there for you, including old ads and a complete list of all the different types of paper clips. Go ahead and visit. Have you learned anything new today?
It’s a little sad to think that paper clips will likely be declining in usage because we won’t be using paper for much longer. But maybe that’s also a good thing. Save some trees.
What’s Tomorrow?
May 30th