Klip, symbol of erroneous resistance
Oslo (Norway) 1899. The inventor Johan Vaaler (1866-1910) designed a kind of clip or link to collect the papers. That same year he filed a patent application for invention in Germany and later in the United States. Both patents were acquired in 1901.
Four decades later, in the middle of World War II, the hometown of Vaaler was occupied by the Germans. As in the rest of the occupied countries, resistance groups against the Nazis were also set up in Norway. The most important group was the students of the University of Oslo, who chose the clip as a symbol against occupation. On the one hand, it was a small, discreet object that didn't attract attention. On the other hand, it also had a symbolic meaning: the clip linked the papers and meant the unity of the Norwegians. And in addition, the clip was a Norwegian invention, or at least they believed it.
The metal spindle was highly successful as a symbol, to the point of forcing the German occupants to take action. Of course, the tiny object had no physical danger. But the Nazis, the masters of propaganda, knew perfectly well the influence of the smaller symbols. For this reason, the use of clips was prohibited, under the threat of a death penalty.
After the war, the clip became a national symbol of Norway, although the invention was not Norwegian. Vaaler's link was not the first. 1867 Samuel B. Fay patented the folded metal thread for the first time to join papers. And in the 1870s, the British company Gem Manufacturing started producing the most common link that's still being used, though it never asked for a patent. The clip that the members of the Norwegian resistance wore was from Gem, not from Vaaler.
In addition to being late for the title of clip creator, Vaaler’s design presented some important flaws. Instead of the rounded folds of the Gem clip, Vaaler bent the thread at right angles, making it difficult for the papers to come together. In addition, in the Gem clips the two ends are looking up, but the Norwegian put each one in a sense, and so the risk of scraping the paper was higher. Vaaler's invention was not sold, and it didn't renew them when the patents went out.
Klipa Monument in Sandvika, near Oslo. The seven-meter giant clip was placed in 1989 to mark the 90th anniversary of the invention of Johan Vaaler. But this clip was not invented by Vaaler. (Ed. : Roede)
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