Judson, Whitcomb L.

SUBJECT AREA: Textiles

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fl. 1891–1905 USA

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American inventor of the zip fastener.

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Whitcomb Judson was a mechanical engineer by profession. He filed his first patent application for a zip fastener in 1891 and took out a fifth in 1905. His invention was originally designed for shoes and consisted of separate fasteners with two interlocking parts which could be fastened either by hand or by a movable guide. In his last patent, he clamped the fastening elements to the edge of a fabric tape and patented a machine for manufacturing this. Through an earlier exploit, the Judson Pneumatic Street Railway Company, Judson knew Colonel Lewis Walker, who helped him to organize the Universal Fastener Company of Chicago to manufacture these fasteners, which at first were made by hand. One machine invented by Judson proved to be too complicated, but Judson's later fasteners were easier to adapt to machine production. The original company was reorganized as the Automatic Hook and Eye Company of Hoboken, New Jersey, and the new fasteners were sold under the name "C-curity". However, the garment manufacturers would not use them at first because the fasteners had defects, such as springing open at unexpected moments. The Automatic Hook and Eye Company brought in Gideon Sundback, who improved Judson's work and made the zip fastener successful.

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Further Reading

J.Jewkes, D.Sawyers and R.Stillerman, 1969, The Sources of Invention, 2nd edn, London (for an account of the invention).

I.McNeil (ed.), 1990, An Encyclopaedia of the History of Technology, London: Routledge, pp. 852–3 (provides a brief account of fastenings).

RLH