Whitcomb L. Judson Whitcomb L. Judson Whitcomb L. Judson (March 7, 1846 – December 7, 1909) was an American machine salesman, mechanical engineer and inventor. Judson invented the zipper in the 1890s. Judson was born in Chicago, Illinois. According to the 1860 census, he lived in Illinois, and served in the Union army. He enlisted in 1861 at Oneida, Illinois in the Forty-Second Illinois Cavalry. Judson attended Knox College in his hometown Galesburg, Illinois. He was found in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1886. In 1886 and 1887 the Minneapolis city directory identifies Judson as a "traveling agent" — a traveling salesman working probably for
Arthur Judson sided with Judson. Rodzinski also lost his next job as conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra over programming disputes, purportedly due to the influence of Judson. Two other conductors who believed Judson damaged their careers were Eugène Aynsley Goossens and Otto Klemperer. Goossens decided, after twelve years, he no longer needed to pay Judson a commission. Judson forced him to pay in an out-of-court settlement, and then dumped him. Klemperer, engaged by Judson for the first fourteen weeks of the New York Philharmonic's 1935-1936 season made the "mistake" of programming Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 over Judson's objections. Judson thereafter