Zero Halliburton, stylized as ZERO Halliburton, is a manufacturer of hard-wearing

travel case Baggage, or luggage, consists of bags, cases, and containers which hold a traveler's personal articles while the traveler is in transit. A modern traveler can be expected to have packages containing clothing, toiletries, small possessions, tri ...

s and

briefcase A briefcase or an attaché case (/əˈtæʃeɪ/) is a narrow hard-sided box-shaped bag or case used mainly for carrying papers and equipped with a handle. Lawyers commonly use briefcases to carry briefs to present to a court, hence the name. Bu ...

s, mainly of

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

. Founded in 1938, the company was sold in 2006 to ACE Co., a Japanese luggage manufacturer.

Erle P. Halliburton Erle Palmer Halliburton (September 22, 1892 – October 13, 1957) was an American businessman specializing in oil field services. Early life Halliburton was born on September 22, 1892, near Henning, Tennessee, Henning, Tennessee, the son of Lou ...

, the American founder of

Halliburton Halliburton Company is an American multinational corporation and the world's second-largest oil service company which is responsible for most of the world's fracking operations. It employs approximately 55,000 people through its hundreds of su ...

, had commissioned the aluminium case in 1938 from aircraft engineers because other luggage could not endure the rough travel through Texas oil fields. In addition to being more durable than a leather or cloth case due to its rigidity, the aluminium case seals tightly against dust and water. Famously, the

nuclear football The nuclear football, officially the Presidential Emergency Satchel, is a briefcase, the contents of which are to be used by the president of the United States to communicate and authorize a nuclear attack while away from fixed command centers, ...

, the briefcase which the President of the United States can use to order a nuclear strike, is a modified Zero Halliburton case, although enclosed in a black leather 'jacket' to make it less conspicuous in public or diplomatic contexts. The aluminium cases have appeared in more than 200

Hollywood movies The cinema of the United States, primarily associated with major film studios collectively referred to as Hollywood, has significantly influenced the global film industry since the early 20th century. Classical Hollywood cinema, a filmmakin ...

and television shows, often as a

MacGuffin In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself. The term was originated by Angus MacPhail fo ...

. In addition to aluminium, Zero Halliburton cases have been available in carbon fiber,

polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate ester, carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, toughness, tough materials, and some grades are optically transp ...

polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer Propene, propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefin ...

, and Texalium (an aluminium-coated

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

). On December 29, 2006, Zero Corporation sold its consumer division to ACE Co., Ltd., of Osaka and Tokyo, of which it is now a wholly owned subsidiary.

References

External links

Company history at Zero Halliburton Web siteZero Halliburton Shop
Luggage manufacturers {{manufacturing-company-stub