YKK

Have you ever looked at a zipper, and saw three little letters, and wondered what the heck do those letters mean?  Well, if you are anything like me, you have.  (You just looked at your zipper, didn't you?)  As a matter of fact, I was asking myself that very thing today.The letters on my zipper right now are YKK.  So, I decided to Google, and found info from various sources.

No, this is not an actual picture of my zipper.  It's just a pic I found on the net.

Anyway, I found out that YKK is a Japanese company (of course), and is the world's largest zipper manufacturer.  I figured they must be, since these are the letters on all of my zippers.  No, I didn't look at every single zipper I have, but they are the only letters I ever remember seeing.

The initials stands for Yoshida Kōgyō Kabushikigaisha.  Don't ask me how to pronounce that.

The company was founded in 1934, and the zippers were originally made by hand.  In 1950, they purchased a machine from the U.S. that allowed the automation of the zipper making process.  The first location in the US was opened in 1960 in New York City.  A YKK plant in Macon, GA manufactures 7 million zippers a day, and is the largest zipper factory in the world.

This particular company also makes hook and loop products (like velcro), buckles, snap fasteners, and jeans buttons.

The company is so well-known for their zippers, that there are actually counterfeit YKK zippers out in the market.

They also make zippers for furniture, autos, luggage, and sports equipment.

So, there you go.  If you ever wondered like I have, you have now been schooled.