Happy Birthday, Mrs. “Big” Paperclip!

In English: “Binder clip”, in German: “Foldback-Klammer”, the French say: “Pince-notes”, we call it a “big” clip, binder or simply: a paper clip. Anyway, in any office you will find dozens of similar clips of small and large, all colors of the rainbow.

Bright glossy surface and shiny steel clips delight the eye. It is always a pleasure to turn such a clip in your hands, talking on the phone or pondering difficult questions.
')
Her calm and soft design enchants and relaxes. Maybe that's why we are always trying to snitch a badly lying clip from our co-workers.

In the meantime, the “big” clip is 100 years old this year. And she can not only fasten paper.

The clip was born back in 1910, when a 15-year-old boy from the capital of the USA, Louis E. Baltzley, decided to help his father Edwin. Edwin Boltsli was a writer, and he was also an inventor, and so a pile of papers on his desktop was common.

At that time, there were no methods for holding papers without punching holes in them. Louis suggested using a steel clip strong enough to firmly squeeze a hundred sheets, but without sharp parts, so as not to tear the paper.

It is worth noting that the invention of Bolzli is obviously in the blood: grandfather Louis - Elias Howe invented the first sewing machine in the USA and the “automatic, continuous fastener for clothes" (which 40 years later Uitkom Judson finished up with a modern zipper ).

Louis Boltsli's invention is economical, elegant, simple and functional. The design of his clip has changed five times, but the basic idea remains the same. For its innovative design and ease of use, proven over decades, the Bolzli clip holds a worthy place in the “Design Classics” encyclopaedia of Phaidon.

Now paper clips are produced in China of all colors of the rainbow and of any size. They can be found in any office.