Talon Zipper
Talon Zipper is a company founded in 1893, originally as the Universal Fastener Company, in Chicago. They later moved to Hoboken, New Jersey, and finally to Meadville, Pennsylvania. It was in Meadville that the zipper as we know it was invented, until then they were producing hookless fasteners for boots and shoes. Here, the zipper was mass-produced beginning in the 1920s. The high demand for zippers created favorable conditions for the Talon Company, and so became Meadville's most crucial industry. The company encountered significant difficulties after it was sold to Textron industries in 1978, eventually ending up bankrupt. Today, nothing remains of Talon in Meadville except for a few run down buildings. However as a result of the need for close tolerances and tool and die makers, a cottage industry of tool and die shops was established which resulted in Meadville being nicknamed Tool City with more tool shops per capita than any place else in the United States. Other early names included the Automatic Hook and Eye Company, and the Hookless Fastener Company. They were the first zipper manufacturing company. In 1996 Tag-It Pacific, Inc. acquired Talon, and in 2007 Tag-It Pacific changed its corporate name back to Talon International, Inc.