The YKK Conspiracy
There are many conspiracy theories out there, but some are especially juicy. The faking of the moon landing from a film studio. The assassination of JFK actually coming from the Grassy Knoll. The possibility that Joanie didn't really love Chachie. But one conspiracy theory has topped them all in interest and in mystery: the YKK conspiracy.
Okay, maybe the JFK thing is more important and blah blah blah, but this thing is cool nonetheless. I mean, why is it that every zipper has YKK written on them? You wanna know? Huh? Well then, gather round my children for the story of El Chupacabra. Oh, wrong story. Okay, then how about the story of why YKK is stamped on all the zippers.
Here's a bit of zipper history. The clasp locker, as it was then called, was invented in 1891 by Whitcomb L. Judson, who also won the prestigious 'Most Old-Timey Name Award' later that same year. The clasp locker was an assemblage of hooks and eyes that Judson thought would save people time (and sore backs) when fastening their shoes with one hand. Later, in 1913, Gideon Sundback of Sweden developed the predecessor of today's modern newfangled zipper that used metal teeth and patented it in 1917. Later, the B.F. Goodrich Company (that's right, the tire people) used the separable fastener in some rubber boots and came up with the name 'zipper' because the boots could be fastened with one hand (and because separable fasterner doesn't have pizzaz to it; you gotta sell it, people).
"Well, get to the point already, why is it YKK?" I'm getting to it. Founded in Japan in 1934 by Yoshida Tadao, Sanesu Shokai was a group of manufacturing companies. Headquartered in Nihonbashi, Japan, the company was renamed Yoshida Kogyo-sho in 1938 and once more renamed Yoshida Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha in 1945. You didn't really need to know any of that; I just thought those were fun words to type. Sixty years later the company put a stop to all that tomfoolery and changed its name to the now easily recognizable (and not garbled mess of sounds) YKK Company in 1994. Today, YKK is still headquartered in Japan and is made up of 80 companies at 206 facilities in 52 countries.
Keep that in mind the next time your jeans are around your ankles and you're taking a dump. The zipper holds more secrets than just what's in your pants.
Okay, maybe the JFK thing is more important and blah blah blah, but this thing is cool nonetheless. I mean, why is it that every zipper has YKK written on them? You wanna know? Huh? Well then, gather round my children for the story of El Chupacabra. Oh, wrong story. Okay, then how about the story of why YKK is stamped on all the zippers.
Here's a bit of zipper history. The clasp locker, as it was then called, was invented in 1891 by Whitcomb L. Judson, who also won the prestigious 'Most Old-Timey Name Award' later that same year. The clasp locker was an assemblage of hooks and eyes that Judson thought would save people time (and sore backs) when fastening their shoes with one hand. Later, in 1913, Gideon Sundback of Sweden developed the predecessor of today's modern newfangled zipper that used metal teeth and patented it in 1917. Later, the B.F. Goodrich Company (that's right, the tire people) used the separable fastener in some rubber boots and came up with the name 'zipper' because the boots could be fastened with one hand (and because separable fasterner doesn't have pizzaz to it; you gotta sell it, people).
"Well, get to the point already, why is it YKK?" I'm getting to it. Founded in Japan in 1934 by Yoshida Tadao, Sanesu Shokai was a group of manufacturing companies. Headquartered in Nihonbashi, Japan, the company was renamed Yoshida Kogyo-sho in 1938 and once more renamed Yoshida Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha in 1945. You didn't really need to know any of that; I just thought those were fun words to type. Sixty years later the company put a stop to all that tomfoolery and changed its name to the now easily recognizable (and not garbled mess of sounds) YKK Company in 1994. Today, YKK is still headquartered in Japan and is made up of 80 companies at 206 facilities in 52 countries.
Keep that in mind the next time your jeans are around your ankles and you're taking a dump. The zipper holds more secrets than just what's in your pants.
reubs wrote this piece of shit at 2:48 AM
4 Horrible Comments:
I would like to point out that even if your zipper slide says something other than YKK (GAP for example) there is a good chance that underneath the actual zipper mechanism, YKK is imprinted as well as the zipper model, for instance, 45v of 5ct.
well thank you for all the trivia information, I only stumbled on YKK because I am trying for fix a pair of mans dress slacks, the zipper slide was mangled, I first tried to find a complete zipper about same color-- no luck.. the coils are fine so I thought easier option, than yanking out the zipper, would replace the part that broken.. the slide-- and guess what-- I cant find it either.. thanks YKK..and yes I a have looked at their website.. I guess its an international thing... lonely in the USA.
YKK also made lots of fun things that float.
Like destroyers, cruisers and things.
They were made by happy people.
POWs.
Good night.
Actually, they (YKK) did not even have a factory in the States until the 70's, they just bought from the several hundred US zipper factories and had the zippers drop shipped to customers, charging ridiculously low prices, about half what the zippers cost. This activity went on for over a decade, monetarily backed by the Government of Japan! After people demanded the name YKK, and YKK had their own plant in the US, they cut off all the suppliers who no longer had many other accounts and jacked up prices; effectively putting all the US firms out of business. I know the story too well, my company made zippers for YKK during those times, but amazingly we are still going after all that this time.....
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