Talon Zipper

Talon Zipper company was the first zipper manufacturing company. It was founded in 1893 as the Universal Fastener Company, manufacturing hookless fasteners for shoes, but a move to Meadville, Pennsylvania led to it becoming the first manufacturer of zippers. The company flourished through the 1960s when it is estimated that seven out of every 10 zippers were Talon zippers.^[1][2][3]

Drawing of 1914 zipper patent filing

History

The Universal Fastener Company was founded in Chicago in 1893. It was later known as the Automatic Hook and Eye Company, and the Hookless Fastener Company, producing hookless fasteners for boots and shoes. The company later moved from Chicago to Hoboken, New Jersey, and finally to Meadville, Pennsylvania where the modern zipper was invented and where it began to be mass-produced in the 1920s.

The high demand for zippers created favorable conditions for the Talon Company, and zippers became Meadville's most crucial industry. The company flourished through the 1960s when it is estimated that seven out of every 10 zippers were Talon zippers [New York Times 12/7/1981]. In 1968 the company was acquired by Textron industries and encountered significant difficulties competing with zippers manufactured abroad. By 1981 its market share had fallen to 35%, from its estimated 70% share in the 1960s.

The company was sold in 1981 to Nucon Holdings for 66 million dollars and production was shifted to Mexico, but to no avail, and it was sold to private Mexican investors. In 1996 it was acquired by Tag-It Pacific, a company based in California, which changed its corporate name in 2007 to Talon International, Inc., and shifted production to Asia in an attempt to restore the company's fortunes.

Products

Zippers

• Metal
• Vintage Zips
• DrXTalon
• Bottom Jean Zippers
• Workwear : Work Zip
• FR Zip, Flame Resistant
• Plastic Molded
• Coil
• Electroplated Coil
• Water Resistant: AquaTight Water Resistant coil zippers
• KidZip
• FootZip

Trims

Talon International pioneered the creation and implementation of complex trim outsourcing programs for large apparel manufacturers.

• Paper Marketing
• Labels
• Metal Fasteners
• Patches
• Heat Seals
• Tapes/Cords
• Packaging

Tekfit

Tekfit is Talon's newest division. Tekfit incorporates the patented creation of stretch technology into complex garment solutions to create stretchable waistbands, collar stands, and more for major apparel manufacturers worldwide. Utilizing a unique patented process, garment manufacturers can now transform standard non-flexible fabrics into remarkable fabrics able to stretch, expand and then recover back to its original size.

Distribution

Talon zippers are used primarily by manufacturers in the apparel industry and are distributed through their distribution facilities in the United States, Europe, Hong Kong and China and through these designated offices to other international markets, including Taiwan, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam, Dominican Republic and Central America.

COVID-19 support

In April 2020, Talon International retrofitted its manufacturing facilities to provide medical and non-medical staff with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Talon supplies 3-ply face masks and face shields of medical grade, as well as cloth masks, gloves, alcohol wipes, hand sanitizers, and gowns for insulation. A part of PPE 's proceeds from the sales were to be donated to the organization Feeding America.^[4]

See also

• Gideon Sundback
• Zipper
• Meadville, Pennsylvania

References

1. "A Brief History of the Talon Zipper Company". Hagen History Center. Retrieved 2023-05-10. Business grew in the 1930s and in 1937 the Hookless Fastener Company changed its name to Talon. The name derives from the talons or claws of birds like the eagle that grasp onto prey. Sundback had also finally developed a clasp that would not open on its own, a problem with early versions. The boom years followed as the period of 1929-1933 saw the company's sales grow by 50 percent.
2. "Zip It Up: Talon Zippers By Mike Froncillo and Lindley Homol". Pabook.libraries.psu.edu. Retrieved 10 May 2023. 1937, some major changes took place. First, the Hookless Fastener Company changed its name again to Talon, Inc. The name change was advantageous because it could be printed on the zipper tab itself, and it was easier for potential buyers to remember. In the same year, the zipper began to gain notoriety for its use on clothing. The Prince of Wales notably wore a suit with a zipper and more clothing designers began to incorporate zippers into their fashions. With new colors available, zippers became a must-have item on clothing of all types.
3. Bryant, Austin (2014-05-04). "The History of Zippers: Talon, Universal, and Gideon Sundback". Heddels. Retrieved 2023-05-10. The company that eventually came to be known as Talon dominated the zipper market for much of the 20th century, and had a huge role in marketing and popularizing the "clasp locker." Now popular in repro garments, Talon zippers originally started under a different name entirely. Whitcomb Judson, often credited as the true inventor of what came to be known as the zipper, originally presented the grand idea at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair under the Universal Fastener Company.
4. "Talon International, a global Trims and Zipper company, is leveraging its supply chain to deliver millions of pieces of PPE to the global market". Cision PR Newswire. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links

• Official Talon Zipper website