All About Zippers

The earliest type of zipper was invented in 1891 by Whitcomb L. Judson. Called the clasp locker, it was an assemblage of hooks and eyes that Judson thought would save people time and sore backs fastening their shoes with one hand.

Later, in 1913, the predecessor of today's zipper that used metal teeth, and patented it in 1917 in Sweden. Later, the B.F. Goodrich Co. used the separable fastener in some rubber boots and came up with the name "zipper" because the boots could be fastened with one hand.

Now look at your own zipper: See the initials YKK? It stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushibibaisha, the world's largest zipper manufacturer that was started in Japan in 1934.

I found an old tip from a 1951 magazine…it says “Curious toddlers can be kept from opening kitchen cabinet drawers while Mother is busy if the drawers are ‘locked’ with a broom handle. Open the drawers and insert handle downward through the drawer pulls.”

This tip was published when I was just a little girl myself…it’s still a good idea if your drawer pulls are the right kind.

Do you have a budding artist who sometimes uses the walls for his creativity? And, did he use markers?

Cleaning marker off walls is easy with toothpaste. Rub the toothpaste (just the plain kind, not gel) into the marker then scrub off with a damp cloth. This also works on wood (rub in the direction of the wood grain).

If the toothpaste does not work, try spray-on sunscreen. I have not tried this one personally, but I’ve read many places where people say it has worked when nothing else did.