St Catharines, Ontario – Almost everyone in the world has a connection to St. Catharines Ontario, all you have to do is zip up a piece of clothing. The concept of the zipper originated with an American, who created it to close rubber galoshes, but there were problems with the early design. The idea was improved by Gideon Sundback in the early 1900’s, who started the Lightning Fastener Company in St
Catharines. By the mid-1930’s this design began to be used on dresses and suits, although the familiar ‘zipper’ name came later. An exhibit on the invention of the zipper has been at the St. Catharines Museum, in the Exhibition Galleries at Lock 3 (1932 Welland Canals Parkway).

While visiting the St. Catharines Museum you can also learn about the ‘Underground Railway’ (St. Catharines was the terminus), and watch mammoth ships slide into locks and be lifted by water and gravity, so they can make their way through the Welland Canal between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. St. Catharines is in the heart of Niagara, Ontario’s wine region.