Pocket protector
A pocket protector is a sheath designed to hold writing instruments and other small implements in a shirt's breast pocket, protecting it from tearing or staining. It may be used to carry pens, pencils, screwdrivers, small slide rules, and other small items. A flap over the outside of the pocket helps to secure the pocket protector in place. Pocket protectors were originally made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
Invention
The pocket protector was invented during World War II by Hurley Smith while he was working in Buffalo, New York. He filed to patent the device on June 3, 1943, and he received patent number Page Template:Citation/styles.css has no content.US 2417786A on March 18, 1947.[1]
A competing claim for the invention came from Long Island plastics magnate Gerson Strassberg around 1952. Strassberg was working on plastic sleeves for bankbooks. One day, he placed one that he was working on into his shirt pocket while he took a phone call. When he noticed it there, he realized it would make a great product.[2]
Use
Pocket protectors imprinted with logos or company names were first marketed to companies as promotional merchandise. A more general market soon arose, made up of students, engineers, and white-collar workers in a variety of fields. They have become part of a "nerd" or "geek" fashion stereotype, probably because of their association with engineers or students, and their use as a shorthand for such nerds in media and film costumes.[3]
Notes
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Madea, Jeanette. "History of the Pocket Protector". IEEE History Center. Archived from the original on May 15, 2007. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Murray, Caryn. "The Pocket Protector Was His Baby". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gartner, John (1999-09-20). "The Myth of the Pocket Protector". WIRED. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
References
- Slatalla, Michelle. "Classic Nerdwear; Pocket Protector, Image Projector". New York Times 24 June 1999.
External links
- Page Template:Sister-inline/styles.css has no content.Script error: No such module "Sister project logo". Media related to Script error: No such module "Commons link". at Wikimedia Commons
- Webseum of Pocket Protectors
- American Scientist
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