One red paperclip
How a paperclip became a house in 14 trades
In July 2005, Kyle MacDonald, a Canadian blogger, set out to trade one red paperclip for something bigger or better, like the children’s game Bigger, Better. Then he traded that for something bigger again, and wrote up every swap on his website. Almost exactly a year and 14 trades later, he swapped his way into a house in Kipling, Saskatchewan.
Every trade
| Trade | Gave | Got | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | One red paperclip | A fish-shaped pen, in Vancouver | July 2005 |
| 2 | The pen | A hand-sculpted doorknob, from Seattle | July 2005 |
| 3 | The doorknob | A Coleman camp stove, with fuel | July 2005 |
| 4 | The camp stove | A Honda generator | September 2005 |
| 5 | The generator | An “instant party”: an empty keg, an IOU to fill it with beer, and a neon Budweiser sign | November 2005 |
| 6 | The instant party | A Ski-Doo snowmobile, from Quebec comedian Michel Barrette | December 2005 |
| 7 | The snowmobile | A trip for two to Yahk, British Columbia | December 2005 |
| 8 | A place on the Yahk trip | A box truck | January 2006 |
| 9 | The box truck | A recording contract with Metalworks Studios, Mississauga | February 2006 |
| 10 | The recording contract | A year’s rent in Phoenix, Arizona | April 2006 |
| 11 | The year’s rent | An afternoon with Alice Cooper | April 2006 |
| 12 | The afternoon with Alice Cooper | A motorised KISS snow globe | May 2006 |
| 13 | The snow globe | A role in the film Donna on Demand, from the actor Corbin Bernsen | June 2006 |
| 14 | The film role | A two-storey house in Kipling, Saskatchewan | July 2006 |
Dates and details follow the Wikipedia article on one red paperclip.
What happened next
The town of Kipling had bought the house to offer in the trade, as a way to bring attention and business to the town. In 2007 Kyle told the story in a book, One Red Paperclip, and Kipling put up a red paperclip sculpture in Bell Park to mark the trades. At the time, it was the world’s largest paper clip.
Try it yourself, as a puzzle
Kyle needed a year and a lot of luck. Paperclip is a free daily puzzle that turns his idea into a game you can finish over breakfast. Every day you start with a red paperclip and a market of traders, and each trader makes one swap, once. Find the shortest chain of trades that reaches the day’s prize, and watch out for the swaps that lead nowhere.
How to play, or jump straight in: