Mondo Knows Facts
The ubiquitous looped paperclip design is known as the Gem pattern
Double loop steel wire clips press paper sheets together without punctures
The classic double-loop paperclip design used worldwide was never patented by its original inventor, but was manufactured by Britain's Gem Manufacturing Company in the 1890s. Its clever nested wire loops press sheets together without puncturing or tearing paper fibres, remaining an iconic office staple.
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Tags: paperclip, office, design
The ubiquitous looped paperclip design is known as the Gem pattern: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Double loop steel wire clips press paper sheets together without punctures. The figure is taken from Library of Congress, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a everyday life fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Everyday Life shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
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