It’s all about the hooks and the loops, but who cares about that? To most if us, it’s magic. You know it, you love it, you use it all the time, and today we celebrate it on
NATIONAL VELCRO DAY!
Shkrriipptch! That’s the ripping sound of velcro being pulled apart, far louder than expected for something so small.
Velcro has been part of our lives since May 13, 1958, when Swiss inventor George de Mestral Trademarked his Hook And Loop Fastening System, adopting the trade name “Velcro.” It’s short for 2 French words, “velours (velvet)” and “crochet (hook),” after the fabric fastener’s unique construction.
An Alpine hiker, de Mestral was inspired by the barbs of the burdock burrs that clung so stubbornly to his socks. That became the “pointy side” of Velcro’s twin strips, the hooks. The “hairy side” is merely shredded fabric, originally cotton but now synthetic, the fibers of the fabric serving as loops to snag the hooks, hundreds per square inch.
You can’t swing a cat these days (safely velcroed to your wrist, of course) without touching a Velcro product, from your shoes to luggage to wires to clothes and patio furniture, and almost everything involving babies. Without Velcro, our homes and possessions would fall apart.
Suggested Activities: Pressing, ripping, pressing, ripping, and that’s about it.