Small but perfectly formed

Ninety years ago a small fixing problem in the British Museum is said to have led to founding of the Rawlplug Company Limited – the world first fixing company.

The Museum needed electrical fittings fixed to walls unobtrusively and without causing damage to the masonry. This was difficult using the traditional method – chiselling a hole in the masonry, plugging it with wood, and screwing the fitting to the wood.

John J. Rawlings, a building contractor, solved the problem by inventing the fibre plug – known as the Rawlplug – into which screws were driven. The basic principle in the design was Grip by expansion. Each screw had its own size of plug which was designed so that it expanded to the maximum as the screw was tightened up into the plug.

*Blatantly swiped from www.rawlplug.co.uk