A little reason to celebrate
National Paperclip Day
Hobby ยท May 29
A day for the paperclip, the bent loop of wire that holds loose pages together and turns up in nearly every desk drawer.
National Paperclip Day falls on Saturday, May 29, 2027. That is 214 days away.
A paperclip is a short length of steel wire bent into a set of nested loops. Slide it over the edge of a few sheets and the loops grip them by tension, then let go without a hole or a mark. That is the whole trick, and it works well enough that the basic shape has barely changed in a very long time.
Most people never think about paperclips until they need one, at which point there are either forty or none. They live in desk drawers, the bottoms of bags and the little dish by the phone. The common double-oval shape is often called a Gem clip, but there are others too: triangular ones, plastic-coated ones in bright colors, and big jumbo clips for thick stacks.
The day suits anyone who likes small, well-made objects. Some people make paperclip chains, which grow faster than expected and are oddly hard to stop. Others bend clips into tiny sculptures, bookmarks or cable holders. A clip that has been unbent and rebent a few times usually weakens and snaps, so the craft has a built-in limit.
It is also a fine moment to sort the drawer. Gather the stray clips, drop the bent ones into a recycling pile for metal, and keep a small, tidy supply where you can find it. The next stack of loose pages will be easier to manage.
Ways to celebrate
- Make a paperclip chain and see how long it gets.
- Bend a clip into a small shape or figure.
- Collect stray clips from drawers and bags into one dish.
- Use a colorful clip as a bookmark in your current book.
- Look closely at the different clip shapes you own.
Dates
| Year | Date |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Friday, May 29 |
| 2027 | Saturday, May 29 |
| 2028 | Monday, May 29 |
| 2029 | Tuesday, May 29 |
| 2030 | Wednesday, May 29 |
Also on May 29
Categories: Hobby days