One of the unique nicknames in all of intercollegiate athletics belongs to the University of Akron. Originally Zippers, athletics director Kenneth “Red” Cochrane officially shortened the nickname to the Zips in 1950. Twenty-five years earlier a campus-wide contest had been conducted to choose a nickname for the University’s athletics teams.

Suggestions submitted by students, faculty and alumni included Golden Blue Devils, Tip Toppers, Rubbernecks, Hillbillies, Kangaroos and Cheveliers. After a three-way vote — one by the student body, one by the University lettermen and one by the local sports writers and faculty representatives — the winner was decided on January 15, 1926.

The winner, freshman Margaret Hamlin, suggested “Zippers” the name of a very popular rubber overshoe (over 500,000 sold the first year) invented by Akron’s B.F. Goodrich Company. She received a prize of $10 for the winning suggestion, which was inspired by the $6 pair of rubber shoes, the “Zipper Boot.” Permission to use the name was granted by the Goodrich Company.

Goodrich introduced its rubber galoshes in 1923 and it made a lasting impression on the world. The footwear featured an ingenious invention, a slide fastener with interlocking metal teeth. With a quick pull of a tab, the overshoes opened wide or sealed shut.

The product’s original suggested name was the “Mystik Boot,” but the name just did not work for Goodrich President Bertram G. Work.

“What we need is an action word,’’ he told a group of sales representatives. “Something that will dramatize the way the thing zips.’’

From that he said, “Why not call it the Zipper?’’