Short Stuff: Paperclips | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. I'm. Josh. There's Chuck. And Jerry's here. for Dave. So, this is an official short. stuff. Boom. I just stamped it with the. official seal. >> That's right. A big thanks to ThoughtCO, Gizmodo, Slate, Science American, University of Michigan. Go Wolverines. University of Houston. Houston. University of Houston. Go Calgars. >> Is it Are they the Cougars? >> Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Huh? Are there a.

lot of cougars roaming around Houston? >> You kidding me? They love They love. those young guys out there. >> Yeah, I got you. Those kind of cougars. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Um Yeah. Those those are places where I. found some pretty good resources on the. history of the paperclip, which when I. um started on this, I expected to be. pretty straightforward. >> Turns out it is not at all. I was. thrilled and delighted to find that the. history of the paperclip is pretty. convoluted. There's a lot of bad. information out there and we're going to.

shuffle it all into place into a. coherent um factbased. conceptually amazing short stuff. >> Yeah, I thought this is a really good. one. This is classic short stuff stuff. Uh, so before the paperclip, and hey, I. love a paper clip, but there ain't. nothing classier than making a slit in. the top right corner of a page. >> and running some ribbon through there to. keep some paper together.

>> Yeah. The the choices between ribbon are. limitless. >> Yeah. And it just it looks so good. >> For sure. And that's why people did that. for centuries and centuries and. centuries. I don't remember exactly when. that started, but it was probably early. medieval if I remember correctly. And it. wasn't until the late 19th century that. paper clips started to come along. And. they weren't something that was invented. quite out of the gate, but not too long. after people started tinkering with. this. Um did did we arrive at the.

paperclip as we understand it today. >> Yeah. And it was one of those weird. things that a few different people uh. just you know not working together. created this very similar thing at the. same time or around the same time. Uh. and the reason this happened seems to be. because uh making like uh needles and. metal wire uh became you know they had. the machinery to do this kind of thing. at this time and people are like hey. what else can we do with little needles. and little pieces of wire besides using. them for sewing. >> Yeah. Or poking your eye up.

>> Yeah. Exactly. >> So yeah. So, it apparently several men. around the world um in the last couple. decades of the 19th century saw a really. good use for mass-roduced wire was paper. clips or a way to bind paper, I think, is a better way to put it. Some people. really didn't. They just kind of phoned. it in. They're like, "Here, just chop it. off and jam jam this through the paper.". And most people said, "We prefer the. ribbon technique over that.". >> Yeah. But the guy who um who really came.

the closest out of the gate to inventing. what we understand as the paperclip that. it's called the gem paperclip uh was a. Norwegian man named Johan Valler. I've also seen it spelled V O L A R. So. Yaner. >> Sure. And that's Jim capital gm. And. we'll get to the naming of that in a. second, but uh yeah, he made a paperclip. that um didn't have the the second.

smaller oval inside the larger oval. It. was just the one larger outer oval. But. um he's credited I mean I think there. was a German newspaper in in the 1920s. that kind of misreported like him being. the sole inventor of the paperclip and. everyone now looks at him as the. inventor of the paperclip. >> like around the world. >> Yeah, for sure. uh he couldn't get a. patent in Norway so he got them in. Germany and the United States and this. was in 1899 and 1901 but everybody.

around the world calls him the inventor. even though there were at least a couple. of people um a couple of few decades. before that invented a paperclip. >> Yeah, both Americans. Uh one guy was. Samuel B. Fay. He seems to be the first. one to have invented a bent wire. paperclip or at least he was the first. to patent it back in 1867. >> Okay, >> there's a guy named Earlman J. Right. Uh. in 1877. he got a patent for an improvement on. Faze bent wire paperclip. Um and Samuel.

Faze paperclip, you know those awareness. lapel pins that people wear for all. sorts of different stuff. >> Yeah, >> that's what his his paperclip looked. like. And I think they're still kind of. around today. So you would call that a. FA paper clip? I would. Or a Sam B. >> Hey, toss me a Sam B. I need to get. these papers clipped. >> Exactly. I want to poke my eye out. >> So, uh, have you What is the deal with. that? Have you ever poked your eye out. with a paper clip?

>> No. Is that common? >> Anytime I think of So, there's a couple. of things. Anytime I think of like a. just a sharp pointy something, >> poke your eye out. >> Okay. >> And then anytime I see like a hearth. made of stone or brick, I always imagine. some poor kid just stumbling and. cracking their head open on that hearth. Also, anything with a really sharp. corner, too. Uh, I don't like that at. all. >> Yeah. But you don't have like a. compulsion like if you have a pointy. thing, you're not like, "Don't do it,

Josh.". >> No. No. I don't I don't feel the call of. the void for marching my head into the. edge of a coffee table. >> It's the opposite. You're cautious. >> Yeah. Have you ever seen those those uh. bumper pads that people put on the. corner of coffee tables when they have. kids? >> I had a kid, so yeah, we had plenty of. those. >> Okay. That's the reason why. Because. it's possible. It's not just me being. crazy. Like, that's possible. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think. that's an unusual fear. >> All right. Well, that's where my. paperclip thing comes from. >> Okay. Gotcha. Uh, so back to the gem.

paperclip. Capital J. I'm sorry, I just. did it. Capital GM. Uh, it's named that. because they were made on the behalf of. the gem manufacturing company uh that. was in the UK. And this was in 1899. and. a Connecticut man named William. Middlebrook uh came up with this uh was. it was the design or the machine? >> The machine to make them. >> Yeah. Because the the long and short of. it is no one like Middlebrook didn't and. the gym company didn't patent the actual. paperclip. They patented the machine. that made them. >> So anybody that's making a gym style. paperclipip from that point on could.

just do it if they had the resources, >> right? Which is one reason why when we. think of paper clips today, we think of. gem paper clips because they are. worldwide. They're made everywhere. You. don't have to pay any royalties. You. never had to pay any royalties with. them. Um, so the paperclip we think of. with the two ovals, one inside of the. other, that's the gem paperclip. And I'm. glad you keep spelling it out because. I'm sure uh people would be confused and. think that you were talking about the. truly truly truly outrageous rocker girl.

gem, >> right? >> Her paper clip. I think people would be. very misled had you not set them. straight. >> Uh, oh boy. Since you mentioned that, I. think we need to shout out Brida. Phillips. >> Oh, yeah. How how so? Who? What? >> I'm pretty sure that Britta Phillips, who is the the bass player of one of my. favorite all-time bands, Luna, >> and uh married to Dean. >> Wear and Dean's brother, Anthony, is a. listener to the show. Wow. This came. full circle. Yeah.

>> So, shout out to Anthony and Dean and. Brida because Britta played Oh, no, it. wasn't G. It was JM. >> Yeah. >> The cartoon Jim and the Holograms. Who. did she play? She played Jim. >> She played Jim. She voiced Jim. >> Oh. Oh, on the actual cartoon. >> Yes. >> That was a good cartoon. I actually. watched that when I was a kid. >> I really struggled with that. But. anyway, shout out to Dean, Britta, and. Anthony. >> Nice. I think we should take a break, man. We haven't yet. >> No, let's do it. >> Okay, here we go.

[Music]. All. right, so back to the gym paperclip. Uh, you know, the the sort of regular size. one, not the tiny one and not the giant. ones, is about an inch. Uh, can hold. supposedly about 20 sheets of regular.

paper pretty well. >> Yeah. Um about 20 billion are made every. year and Americans apparently uh use 11. billion of those. >> Wow. >> And you pointed out very astutely that. uh paper clips are used obviously to. bind paper, but those things uh can be. undone and used most often to poke the. little reset buttons in a lot of. technology hardware. >> Uh back in the day if you wanted to open. your CDROM tray if it was stuck, you. would use that. uh in elementary school.

I don't know if you did this, but you. could unfold it and uh make it into. something that when you uh drop it, pops. up in the air. >> Oh, I was never able to do that, but. yeah. >> Yeah, you would bend it such a way that. it's like a like a bear trap or. something, you know, is like uh I mean, I know there's a word for this, but uh. and we would we would have contests to. see who could make theirs pop the. highest. >> Nice. You could also shoot them pretty. far with a rubber band and potentially. take someone's eye out. That's Oh man, your biggest fear,

>> right? Uh so one of the things about the. gem paperclipip is it's it's been around. for 125 years at least. >> Mhm. >> Um it's been virtually the same for 125. years. So there's probably a lot of. people walking around thinking like, well, it's a perfect thing. It was a. perfect design. Can't be improved on. And that is just so wrong. You shouldn't. even say that out loud. >> Yeah. Uh, I mean, if you've ever had a. tangled up box of paper clips, you know. the frustration that comes with that. Uh, if you've ever, you know, had one.

out in in moisture, you know that they. can rust and rust that paper. Usually. not a big deal, but if it's an important. paper, you don't want rust on that. thing. >> No. >> What else? >> Uh, well, also, Chuck, the cut end of. the wire can poke through the paper. It. can poke your eye. It can poke is the. big problem with that one. >> Yeah. Very pokey. And then also like. eventually if you stuff too many sheets. of paper in there and they stretch out. too wide or you make a bear trap out of. one, it's not going to hold any papers. from that point on.

>> Yeah. And all of this has culminated and. this is very funny to me that that um. companies that make these, they say they. they get like, you know, up to 10. letters a week still where people are. like, you know how you could fix these. things, >> right? >> I'm sure. I mean, imagine being a person. who's like, I've got it. I just figured. out how to keep people from poking. themselves in the eye with a gem. paperclip. Of course, you're going to. write a letter. And then you'd probably. be pretty sad to get the letter back. saying like, "That's a great idea, but. what about this problem and that problem. that you just created with your stupid.

design?" That was the standard letter. that that you would get back from Jim. Paper Clip Company. >> I love it. Uh, shout out a couple of. other kinds of paper clips that uh, for. me, I don't want to yuck someone's yum, but if you hand me these, I'm just going. to throw this paper back in your face. >> Oh, wow. >> If you have the nerve to walk up with. one of those spiral paper clips in the. corner, the round ones. >> Uh-huh. >> No, thank you. >> Okay. >> Uh, or uh I don't know if this is the. official name, but I saw them called. Regal paper clips. They're the ones that. are uh they're rectangles and then.

dangling down in the center which is the. binder is uh. uh it looks like a couple of pool cube. balls on a string. >> Okay. >> That's the the non-crude way to describe. it. >> Oh, I see. >> You know what I'm talking about. But I. I'll text you a picture of the Regal. paper paperclipip and you'll be like, "Oh, yeah, those things.". >> Oh, weird. Yeah. Well, there are some. that that are are improved versions, right? they just haven't caught on like. the gem clip. There's one called the.

Gothic clip and it inverts its angles. inward so that when you slide it onto. the paper, there's no way to poke. through the paper. And it's so good that. typically it's used by um archivists. If. you're going to bind paper together and. you're an archivist, you're probably. going to use a Gothic clip. Although, I. would think also in that industry, you. do not want to use a paper clip at all. >> Yeah. You want to tie classy ribbon. exactly. >> through that thing. >> They'd be like, "You just carved a hole.

in the Declaration of Independence.". >> Uh, I looked up Gothic Clip and I mean, you type those two words together, you're going to end up with a lot of. weird results on the images. >> because of Goths and stuff like there. were a lot of goth hair clips and things. like that. >> Yeah. >> But was it the one that kind of is. shaped like a coffin. >> or were those just. >> Yeah. Okay. No, it has like um inverted. angles. Yes. Yeah, that's the Gothic. clip. I don't know. Maybe that's why. they call it that. >> I mean, I assume so.

>> Well, let's talk a little bit more about. Yuan Ver in Norway because we should say. if you're a Norwegian listener, you're. probably kind of mad at us right now for. saying that he didn't invent the. paperclip. >> It seems to be true. We're very sorry. for saying that, but the reason that. that our Norwegian listeners are mad, everybody is that he is a national hero. in Norway um for inventing the. paperclip. >> Yeah. Didn't know paper clips were such. a big deal there, but apparently, and. this is super kind of fun fact, uh.

during the Nazi uh occupation there in. World War II, um Norwegian citizens wore. paper clips as sort of a a a sign of. like unity and resistance. >> Yeah. one of the few fun facts that. involve Nazis. >> Yeah, agreed. >> Uh there's also a a 23 foot statue, seven meters for our friends outside of. the US and Liberia um of a paperclip in. honor of Valler. It's at the BI business. school in Oslo. The thing is is it's not.

a Ver paperclip. It's a gem clip with a. a squared off bottom. >> Yeah. Which is very strange. And that. was the same one they used on the. postage stamp that they commemorated for. him in Norway in 1999. Yeah. So, I guess. everybody just kind of dusted the. original version under the rug and. they're like, "Here's a baller clip.". >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Uh, well, thanks a lot everybody. for joining us. We don't have anything. more to say about paper clips, which. means that short stuff is out.

Stuff you should know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart. Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple. Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows. [Music].