The amazing invention story of rubber bands
There are many day-to-day essentials in our lives that we take for granted. One such thing is elastic rubber band. Whether you admit or not, life would have got a tad difficult for us without these mini handy supplies, isn’t it? Today, let’s dig out the invention story behind these all-too-useful rubber bands.
The origin of rubber bands
Before we go on to the first known invention of rubber bands, let us quickly get a glimpse of the history of rubber itself. It can be traced back to ancient Mexico and Central America, where tribes such as the Mayas, Olmecs and Aztecs harvested latex from rubber trees. But they soon figured out that the natural substance is very brittle, which is when they mixed it with juice squeezed out of morning glory vines. Luckily, this blend proved to be useful, as it was both durable and water resistant. Back then, these people used it to make shoes and balls.
When European explorers travelled to the Central Americas, they were fascinated by rubber, as they hadn’t seen anything like it before. Needless to say, when they returned, they carried a significant amount with them and started making usable rubber back home.
Now, fast forward to the 19th century. This is when an Englishman named Thomas Hancock found a unique use of rubber. He decided to make bands out of them, and thus, in 1820, the first ever known rubber band was born in England. What he did was pretty simple. He sliced an entire rubber pound into multiple bands. What’s interesting here is that these bands were neither stretchy nor bouncy as we know today. Instead, they would soften during summer and harden during winter. Why? Because these bands were yet to be vulcanised, something that was done years later by an American named Stephen Perry. Now, for those unaware, vulcanisation is a process by which natural rubber is hardened using heat and sulphur, giving it the right consistency to turn into strong, durable bands.
Modern-day rubber bands
Okay so, where were we? Yes, the first elastic rubber band that was made from vulcanised rubber was invented by Stephen Perry. In fact, he ended up patenting it in March 1845 and even renamed his father’s steel pen-making company Perry Pen into Messrs Perry & Co. that went on to become one of the first and most popular rubber manufacturers in the world. They even advertised saying that these stretchy, bouncy and durable bands were ideal for ‘papers, letters, etc.’
But there’s a little bit of a catch over here. Several sources suggest that there was another person involved in the development of this process: an American innovator named Charles Nelson Goodyear. As believed by some, he invented vulcanisation Perry was just smart enough to exploit it!
So, it wasn’t one but three different individuals who are collectively responsible for giving us the rubber bands that we use today. This is how they are made till date. First, long rubber tubes are taken, then they are heated and finally pressurised using sulphur. Once this is done, the tube is cut into infinite bands. To remove the stickiness, manufacturers today wash these bands, dry them before shipping it out into the global market.