The Norwegian Resistance During World War II and the Paper Clip
A Norwegian faced with the need to keep related paper documents together was, ostensibly, the first to design and patent the paper clip in 1899. It proved to be one loop too short of the ideal shape!
Johan Vaaler (1866-1910) had a background in electronics and mathematics and worked in an “invention office” in Oslo, Norway. His need to maintain voluminous paper records led him to invent the paper clip. For the prior several hundred years, a ribbon slipped through linear slots cut in same location in each page was used to bind related paper documents. For a very short time before the paper clip, some used a straight pin to attach paper documents to each other. An American physician had invented the straight pin to hold cloth together for tailoring.
Vaaler initially obtained a patent for his invention in Germany and a few years later in the United States; Norway did not have patent laws at the time. Vaaler neither improved nor marketed his invention. Instead, in the ensuing years, several firms, most notably Gem Manufacturing Limited in the United Kingdom, produced and marketed versions of the paper clip. Gem Manufacturing developed a better fastener, the “double-U” slide-on paper clip. Subsequently, it became known as the “Gem paper clip”, no matter the manufacturer. (Fig.1, Fig. 2a.) It was superior to Vaaler’s original single loop clip (Fig 2b). Other companies have developed other shapes and sizes for the paper clip. (Fig. 2c) The precise sequence of events leading to the invention of the paper clip is contested; but, Vaaler’s patents gave him some priority and the idea was very likely his own.
Figure 1. The “Gem” designation used generically to imply the double loop shape of the clip.
Figure 2
Although Vaaler neither improved nor marketed his original paper clip, the Norwegians took pride in his recognition as the inventor of this simple, but useful, device. At the time of the German occupation of Norway during World War II, the Norwegians used various symbols of resistance, for which arrest could occur. These included the more obvious buttons with the likeness or initials of their King, Haakon VII, who was in exile. As a less provocative substitute, they wore paperclips on their shirt or jacket as a symbol of Norwegian solidarity against their Nazi occupiers. King Haakon, a Norse name he assumed after he was crowned, was much beloved and respected by Norwegians. He had been Prince Carl in Denmark. When Norway negotiated the split from their union with Sweden under the reign of the King Oscar II of Sweden, Carl was elected King of Norway by popular referendum. It was a singular way to become a King. After selected by a popular vote, he was given the crown in a ceremony of the Norwegian Storting, the legislature, in 1905. In 1940, he refused to be a German puppet. He escaped to England through Sweden as the Germans invaded Norway. From that haven, he led and encouraged his people through radio broadcasts and other means during the war. The Norwegians, cleverly, used a paper clip on one’s lapel or shirt, a patented Norwegian innovation, as a symbol by Norwegian of solidarity during the Nazi occupation.