The shredding of confidential documents has had a great deal of buzz in recent years, mostly fueled by the rise in identity and credit card theft. Shredders are being sold in record numbers as people begin to understand the need to destroy materials that could give a dishonest few the edge to steal money, or worse, one"s identity.
As recent as this shredding "buzz" seems, however, the truth is, that document shredding has been around as long as paper (or papyrus) itself, for over 6,000 years. When an Egyptian writer made a mistake on his hieroglyphics, he routinely tore-up the papyrus he was working on, manually, then started again.
Shredding has had a long and storied journey since then. As a matter of fact, the first shredding machine was created and used in 1930"s Germany. Adolf Ehinger designed a shredder based on familiar kitchen tools. He printed anti-Nazi materials, and after a neighbor confronted him about information found in his trashcan, he began to realize how important it was to render these materials unreadable.
Starting with a commonly used pasta maker with a hand-crank, he devised a paper shredder, also with a hand crank, nestled in a wooden frame. His next step was to create a shredder with an electric motor, which at first seemed laughable to those around him. However, he successfully sold his shredders to various government embassies and agencies in the 1940s.
In the 1950s, during the cold war, the shredder grew even more in popularity and Adolf"s company designed the world"s first cross-cut paper shredder. This kind of shredder cuts paper in multiple directions, not just strips that can be reassembled with some effort. Paper-shredding machines were used primarily by government offices, banks or law offices from the 1950"s - straight into the 1980"s.
Shredders have woven their way into history in some notorious ways. Richard Nixon"s re-election committee used paper-shredding machine to destroy papers connected to the Watergate scandal in the 1970s. Oliver North used a shredding machine to destroy documents related to the 1980"s Iran-Contra affair. In addition, cross-cut shredders gained more popularity after the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran, Iran. U.S. Government personnel had shredded sensitive documents with standard shredders, but Iranian militants were able to piece the documents back together by using local carpet weavers. Now the US government requires cross-cutting shredders for all document destruction.
From the earliest paper shredders through today, these machines have become useful tools in the arsenal of confidentiality. Used in almost every business environment and many homes, shredders can preserve identity, prevent lawsuits, and save untold amounts of money. Shredders have come a long way, but in today"s environment, they are bound to go much further.