March 17, 2012 - The Rubber Band is Patented

Whoninvented the rubber band?

nAnrubber band may seem a bit simple to even need to be invented, butnrubber doesn’t come tumbling out of Para rubber trees in convenientnrubber-band form!

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nAncientnMayan Indians in Central America used sap from the rubber treencombined with juice from morning glory vines to make latex that wasnmore elastic and less brittle than rubber alone, and they used thenlatex to secure their axe heads to the handles. Eventually variousngroups of Central American Indians made clothing, bottles, and othernrubber products, and Europeans were very interested in rubber whennthey conquered the Amerindians and discovered their ingenious rubberncreations. In the 1700s and 1800s, a variety of people creatednelastic fastenings for gloves, shoes, stockings, and suspenders outnof rubber, and Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber, whichncould stand up to weather better than natural rubber.

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nOnnthis date in 1845, Englishman Stephen Perry patented the rubber band.nHe used vulcanized rubber in his bands, which he invented to holdnpapers and envelopes together. These days, most rubber bands arencreated from synthetic rubber made from crude oil.

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nTherenare about a million and three ways to use rubber bands besides fornholding papers and envelopes together…everything from keepingnrolled-up posters from unrolling to making a ponytail, and fromnholding a bag of candy closed to bundling together asparagus spearsnat the grocery store.

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nHerenare some fun things to do with rubber bands:

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nAn time-honored custom is making a ball out of rubber bands.

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An lot of people spend time and money buying rubber band guns. This video shows how to make one out of Legos. (They are specialtyn Legos!) A much simpler rubber band gun can be made just using yourn finger. NOTE: All guns are dangerous, including rubber band guns. Pleasen never-never-never aim a rubber band at a person or animal!!!!