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Fraternities "back in the day" were founded with one thing in mind, forming a group different than the others with the goal to hold themselves to higher standards and form a tight and everlasting bond. So, in a sense I agree with you that "grips" were not formed the night of your GLO founding (maybe the 1900's GLO's, but not much earlier than that. 1900's orgs. knew what other fraternities had, so they probably had a grip right away.).
Early on, grips were given for the purpose of entering secret meetings when fraternities were considered "Secret Societies". When one needed to get into a meeting, the grip was given. It was also source to tell if someone was a member of your org. by a simple shake. Simply giving the grip in front of faculty signifies "I'm a Beta, so are you, and this Prof. doesn't know therefore we won't be expelled....but ha ha to him for not knowing we just gave our grip right in front of him".
For example, the Chi Chapter of Beta Theta Pi was underground for about 20 years in the late 1800's. Imagine how important it was to keep secret, your relationship with the fraternity?
There are more than 4 basic grips. The hand may only be able to perform a certain amount of "grips", but there is a lot more than four. I've never heard that analysis before.
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