{"product_id":"zipper-an-exploration-in-novelty-paperback","title":"Zipper: An Exploration in Novelty - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eRobert D. Friedel\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is almost impossible to imagine modern life without this device; yet for the first thirty years or so, from its patent in the late nineteenth century, it represented no real advantage over traditional fasteners like the hook-and-eye or the old-fashioned button. The zipper was mechanically awkward, liable to rust, liable to fail (i.e., snag or burst open), and so expensive that it doubled the retail price of a skirt or a pair of pants. But from the beginning the zipper had an allure, a mystery, a kind of sex appeal that would be echoed in songs, poems, and popular novels.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Robert Friedel has written a fascinating history--full of strange twists, paradoxes, and interesting characters--of this signature gadget of the twentieth century. Inventor Whitcomb Judson (whose efforts lay mostly in patenting a doomed undertaking known as the Pneumatic Streetcar) gave the zipper life; businessman Colonel Lewis Walker had the capital and the faith to back it for forty years; and cultural icons such as Marlon Brando, Erica Jong, and the Rolling Stones helped to turn it into a symbol for sexuality and style.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Not just the story of a distinctive technology, \u003cem\u003eZipper\u003c\/em\u003e is an entertaining, informative examination of how new things become part of our daily lives, shaping how we think and act.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 306\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.94 x 8.26 x 5.56 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 15, 2010\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51762115936544,"sku":"9780393313659","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/dad393c63ad9e991b9078b5159713472.webp?v=1780217722","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/zipper-an-exploration-in-novelty-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}