The modern zipper was eventually designed in 1913 by Gideon Sundback. He worked at the Universal Fastener Company in Hoboken, New Jersey. Sundback received a patent for his “Separable Fastener” in 1917.

When were zip fasteners first used?

From its humble beginnings as an "Automatic Continuous Clothing Closure" invented in 1851 by Elias Howe to the "Clasp Locker" patent in 1893 and marketed by Mr. Whitcomb Judson, the zipper as we know it today, had little commerical success.

Did they have zippers in the 1940s?

Coil (plastic) zippers – invented in 1940, but not in common use until the early 1960s. Center-back dress zippers – seen occasionally in the 1940s and early 1950s, but generally later 1950s and 1960s and in most dresses since the 1970s.