Paper clip
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.
The paper clip's widespread use in various settings, from offices to educational institutions, underscores its functional design and adaptability.
[2] 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.
[6] 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".
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.
[15][16][17] Spencer registered a "binding-pin" on 2 September 1846,[18][19] which was made and sold by Adolphus Ackermann for over a year,[20] advertised as "for holding loose manuscripts, sermons, weekly papers, and all unstitched publications".
He was granted patents in Germany[21] and in the United States[22] (1901) for a paper clip of similar design, but less functional and practical.
Long after Vaaler's death, his countrymen created a national myth based on the false assumption that the paper clip was invented by an unrecognized Norwegian genius.
[24] Johan Vaaler began working for Alfred J. Bryns Patentkontor in Kristiania in 1892 and was later promoted to office manager, a position he held until his death.
Also, he may have been aware that a Norwegian manufacturer would find it difficult to introduce a new invention abroad, starting from the small home market.
The impracticality of Vaaler's design may easily be demonstrated by cutting off the last outer loop and one long side from a regular Gem clip.
[26] In the report of the first fifty years of the patent agency, he wrote an article in which he proclaimed Vaaler to be the inventor of the common paper clip.
A clip worn on a lapel or front pocket could be seen as "deux gaules" (two posts or poles) and be interpreted as a reference to the leader of the French Resistance, General Charles de Gaulle.
Authors of books and articles on the history of Norwegian technology eagerly seized it to make a thin story more substantial.
[31] In 1989, a giant paper clip, almost 7 m (23 ft) high, was erected on the campus of a commercial college near Oslo in honor of Vaaler, ninety years after his invention was patented.
The celebration of the alleged Norwegian origin of the paper clip culminated in 1999, one hundred years after Vaaler submitted his application for a German patent.
In 2005, the national biographical encyclopedia of Norway (Norsk biografisk leksikon) published the biography of Johan Vaaler, stating he was the inventor of the paper clip.
Several devices call for a very thin rod to push a recessed button which the user might only rarely need.
The trackball can be removed from early Logitech pointing devices using a paper clip as the key to the bezel.
Their slim profile and easy placement make them useful for marking a specific page or section without causing damage or adding bulk.
The first one is to unfold the clip in a line and then twist the end in a right angle, trying to imitate a key and using it to lift the lock fixator.
