Childhood memories – airplanes that you would wind up and then let go and watch it fly; the sling shot made out of rubber bands or the car that ran on rubber band power.
Today you find rubber bands wrapped around your vegetables, around stacks of paper, or anything that you want to hold together as a group. This handy little item is used for so many different things – the only limit for its use is the limit of your imagination!
The rubber industry began with Thomas Hancock. In 1820 he patented India-rubber springs for various types of clothing. He also invented the rubber masticator – a machine with revolving teeth that tore up rubber scraps. These shredded bits adhered into a solid mass that could then be pressed into blocks or rolled into sheets. The masticator made rubber manufacture commercially practical.[1]
Things made from rubber at that time did not last. They had a tendency to melt in warmer weather. A young man with a boyhood fascination with rubber took up the challenge to make rubber usable. In 1839 Charles Goodyear accidentally discovered the vulcanization process (heating a rubber and sulphur mixture) that made the rubber tough but flexible. This process was patented in 1844.[2] The rubber band was first patented by Stephen Perry on this day, March 17, 1845 in London.[3]
Standards for the rubber band were established in the United States in 1925 by the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Standards. These standards detailed requirements for the number of bands per pound depending on the length of the band and the tensile strength and elongation of the bands.[4]
The rubber band was once the prominent product of the rubber factory, today it is but one product among many. Manufacturers of the rubber band now produce many ot