Cork has been around for millennia. Cork bottle stoppers have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs. In ancient Greece, many items such as fishing net floats, sandals and bottle stoppers were made with cork. It was not until the end of the 19th century, however, that corkboard was invented.
Throughout the ages, cork was produced same as it ever was, with much of the cork going to waste. In 1890, a German company began collecting the waste cork particles and using a clay binder to create an agglomerate cork sheet. The next year an American by the name of John T. Smith improved upon the process. Instead of using a clay binder, Smith’s process used heat and pressure to combine the waste cork together, created a pure agglomerated corkboard.
Initially, corkboard was used primarily as insulation. This all changed in 1924 when George Brooks, a resident of Topeka, Kansas, patented a new use for corkboard: as a bulletin board you could stick tacks into. A simple yet brilliant idea which has impacted the way we post messages to this day. Also known as pinboards, bulletin boards and of course cork boards, George Brooks’ invention is a mainstay in homes and offices around the world.
Unfortunately, little is known about these earliest pinboards aside from the patent issued by Brooks. Most likely he manufactured and marketed it on a small scale for the Topeka area. However, history tells us word did eventually spread to other parts of the country, and today corkboards are a universal phenomenon around the world.
In those days, the lifespan of a patent was only 17 years. Thus, the patent for George Brooks’ invention ran out in 1941. From then on, anyone would be able to create and market their own versions of the product.
In 1940, the first major innovation upon the corkboard concept emerged. Another George, George E. Fox received a patent for a similar construction which could hang from a wall. Rather than using cork board, however, his pinboard used foam rubber with a cardboard backing.
Popularity of corkboards and pinboards grew rapidly. By the mid 1950’s, use of push-pin bulletin boards was fairly common among businesses throughout much of the United States, whether they be corkboard bulletin boards or George Fox’s foam rubber version. In 1956, a new update to the design was developed. Earl Knudson with the Modern Display Co. took Fox’s design and replaced the foam rubber with fiberboard.
As popularity at workplaces grew, the corkboard soon began to become a common fixture in the home as well. Spouses could easily post notes to each other, or notes for children. Today, as technology continues to progress with computers, the Internet and more, bulletin boards are becoming less ubiquitous, however they remain a mainstay in offices and many homes throughout the world.
Copyright (c) 2008 Wes Fernley
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