Google Doodle Celebrates The Hole Puncher On 131st Anniversary

Workplaces have evolved over the years to become more digital but the “hole puncher” — a simple device, which with one satisfying clunk helps turn a pile of disordered sheets into a neat stack ready for the binder — still remains an essential tool.

Google Doodle marked the 131st anniversary of this invention Tuesday. The doodle, illustrated by Gerben Steenks, showed the Google logo made of colorful paper circles. The second ‘g’ of the word Google was replaced by a blue sheet of paper on which a hole puncher is seen punching holes. The blue sheet then proceeds to do a little jig.

The doodle paid tribute to the German inventor Friedrich Soennecken, who filed a patent for the hole puncher Nov. 14, 1886. Soennecken called the device “Papierlocher fur Sammelmappen,” which means paper hole maker. His invention led to designers in the United States to work on a better version.

Soennecken, who was the son of a blacksmith, has several inventions to his credit. Besides the hole puncher, he invented a binder and a special nib for ink pens that are used for calligraphy. He also founded a German company named Soennecken that specializes in office supplies.

Basically, a hole puncher is used to create holes in papers to assemble and file them together. It is also used to make holes in leather and thin plastic sheets. The device uses a lever and spring system to allow the user to punch holes with cylindrical blades through stacked sheets of paper with minimal force, according to the Mirror.

Another type of hole puncher is the single hole puncher, which is primarily used to punch tickets.

The hole puncher has been described as an understated but essential artifact of German engineering, which has remained unchanged over the years, according to the Google Blog Post.

In the U.S., the first patent for a hole puncher was given to Benjamin Smith from Massachusetts. Another U.S. inventor Charles Brooks was also credited with improving on the German-derived device in 1893. Brooks called the device a ticket punch, according to ThoughtCo.

In 1992, Bernadette Chenard, a professional paper-craft-artist who formerly used leather punches and standard hole punches to create shapes from paper, was tired of the sound of the hammer pounding on the paper and the difficulty in achieving professional results. In search of a solution, Chenard contacted one of the largest dye-manufacturing facilities in the U.S. She suggested the puncher that would make small holes in decorative paper be made available to the general public. A year later the first decorative paper puncher was launched, bringing a new trend in the market.

The Google Doodle for the hole puncher is on the website’s homepage across Europe, North America, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and India.