Who Invented Sticky Tape
Sticky Tape comes in a variety of lengths and widths and is used frequently in everyday life. Some of the most common uses of sticky tape include wrapping gifts, securing posters to walls and other surfaces, use in the insulation and ducting industry and use in the entertainment and theater industry. There are a number of different types of sticky tape such as masking tape, cellophane tape, duct tape, packing tape, electrical tape and many others. So who invented sticky tape? Read this article to find out.
The First Sticky Tapes
The first sticky tapes were invented by Richard Gurley Drew. He invented masking tape first to help in the automotive industry. He discovered that the two tone paint jobs that were popular in the early twenties were difficult to achieve at the join line. In 1923, after two years in the lab, Richard Gurley Drew invented the first masking tape. When he was testing his first product it continued to fall off the car due to an inadequate amount of adhesive. The auto painter is recorded to have said “Take this tape back to those Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to shove it!” and that is how the tape got its name, Scotch Tape.
In 1930 Richard Gurley Drew invented the world’s first cellophane tape, a transparent, adhesive tape that could be used to stick things together. It was design for use in the baking and food industry as a way to seal plastic bags containing food. When heat sealing was invented this ceased to be its primary use. Many people began using sticky tape to repair items rather than replace them during the Great Depression. Scotch Tape or Sellotape was sold by the 3M’s company and thrived despite the Great Depression due to its diversification into many different markets.
The types and uses of tape diversified from this point and the many types of tape now available are variations on the original masking tape and cellophane tapes developed by Richard Gurley Drew.
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