Home History Invention Adoption Significance Works Cited                                         Fast Fact:  Velcro can be fastened  and unfastened thousands of times without wearing out 27

The United States immediately grabbed onto the idea of this new, durable fastener called Velcro.  In 1957, American Velcro Inc. opened in Manchester, New Hampshire, where many textile workers lived.22  The hook and loop design began to be manufactured on looms called shuttle looms.  By the end of the 1950's, shuttle looms were producing sixty million yards of Velcro a year.23   A  factory machine used to create Velcro http://www.cm4.es/html/velcro.html By 1958, the Velcro trademark was registered in the United States and other countries. In the American Velcro Inc. factory in New Hampshire, a new, original idea was formulated with its aim in the United States market.24  Customers within the United States that were interested in using the product were told that they had to buy from American Velcro because they were the only company with the special patent.  This patent covered "the invention and fabrication of special napped piles of man-made material, with at least some of these loops having the means of hooking near their ends." 25  In addition to woven hook, the American Velcro company began to experiment with a molded plastic hook product in 1967.26  This proved to be a popular variation, as plastics were becoming more widely accepted and embraced in American culture during this time. A major change occurred in the American Velcro company in 1976, when the company name changed to Velcro USA Inc.  Three years later, in 1979, technology took a big step when needle looms replaced the original shuttle looms.28  This change was needed to meet the growing demand of Velcro, as needle looms were more efficient in mass producing the product.  In addition, the original patents expired in the United States. This meant that other companies could begin manufacturing hook and loop fasteners, but only one company could make genuine Velcro brand hook and loop fasteners.29  The idea of a fastener for clothing and other apparel was not a foreign concept to Americans during this time.  However, the adoption of Velcro into American society and culture proved to be one of the greatest scientific accomplishments of the century.  While zippers, buttons, safety pins, shoelaces, and belt buckles serve as satisfactory alternatives, Velcro was embaced as, and still remains, the dominant fastener.30 So, what exactly is "Velcro" as we know it today? Velcro is actually the name of a group of companies as well as a trademark owned by Velcro Industries, but it is not the hook and loop product itself.  Today, only the Velcro companies make genuine Velcro brand hook and loop fasteners.31   The official Velcro USA Inc. trademark http://www.velcro.com