The zipper concept has been around since the 1850’s. But the version we all know was created by Swedish American Gideon Sundback in 1913. He called it “Separable Fastener”. B.F. Goodrich used it on their rubber boots in 1923 and called them “zippers” because of the “zip” sound. The name stuck. The military used them in bulk in World War 1, putting them in uniforms and gear. What Mr. Sundback did not tell us was that they could be possessed by demons, and that is where this story begins.
I was 5 or 6 years old when my mother bought me a pair of railroad striped overalls; a light color with blue pinstripes. I think she gave them to me because I loved trains though it could also be because I looked darn cute in them.
Well, I wore them for some type of family picnic one bright spring day and several of the old ladies complimented mom on how I looked. I had several cousins around my age, and we were having a great time playing on the swings and slides. Nature called and I went behind a tree to do what my dad called “drain my radiator”.
Everything was going well until I finished and tried to zip my fly without looking at what I was doing. The demon zipper caught my, uh, ding-a-ling. I started crying and running through the stunned cousins and crowds of old people with everything hanging out, crying for mom, screaming that my ding-a-ling was hurting.
What happened next? I have no idea. I was so traumatized I can only guess that mom rescued me, as only moms can, and the picnic resumed. But in the decades since, I have been very careful with zippers, and I have a fear of any type of clothing with railroad stripes.
I was 5 or 6 years old when my mother bought me a pair of railroad striped overalls; a light color with blue pinstripes. I think she gave them to me because I loved trains though it could also be because I looked darn cute in them.
Well, I wore them for some type of family picnic one bright spring day and several of the old ladies complimented mom on how I looked. I had several cousins around my age, and we were having a great time playing on the swings and slides. Nature called and I went behind a tree to do what my dad called “drain my radiator”.
Everything was going well until I finished and tried to zip my fly without looking at what I was doing. The demon zipper caught my, uh, ding-a-ling. I started crying and running through the stunned cousins and crowds of old people with everything hanging out, crying for mom, screaming that my ding-a-ling was hurting.
What happened next? I have no idea. I was so traumatized I can only guess that mom rescued me, as only moms can, and the picnic resumed. But in the decades since, I have been very careful with zippers, and I have a fear of any type of clothing with railroad stripes.
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Lonnie McKelvey is a freelance writer from Fort Payne, Alabama, and is a regular contributor to Grandparents Day Magazine. |
