https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/scotchtape.html
Scotch® Tape Timeline
1921: Sandpaper manufacturer 3M hires Richard Drew as lab assistant.
1925: Drew invents Scotch® Masking Tape, the predecessor to transparent tape. This marks 3M's entry into the tape business. The first tape was a two-inch-wide tan paper strip backed with a light, pressure-sensitive adhesive.
1930: Drew develops the first waterproof, clear adhesive tape: Scotch® Cellulose Tape, later renamed Scotch® Transparent Tape.
1932: 3M's John Borden designs the first heavy-duty tape dispenser with a built-in cutter blade.
1945: After World War II, 3M resumes shipments of tapes for civilian use. More than 100 different types of Scotch tapes had been developed to meet wartime requirements. The famous plaid design is introduced to Scotch tape packages.
1961: Scotch® Magic™ Tape is launched. More than just transparent, the matte finish tape is virtually invisible on light-colored paper and can be written on with pen, pencil, or marker.
1978: Emerging comedy TV show, Saturday Night Live, pokes fun at the popularity of Scotch® tape. In a skit called "Scotch Boutique," the owners of a new store sell nothing but Scotch® tape, demonstrating the countless and endlessly quirky uses of this iconic product.
1985-86: In a national Roper opinion poll, Scotch® tape is voted the most indispensable product in the home. Scotch® tape is also honored by a leading consumer magazine as one of the "50 small wonders and big deals that revolutionized the lives of consumers."
1997: 3M introduces Scotch® Pop-Up Tape Strips—precut, 2-inch tape pieces and a one-hand, pop-up dispensing.
2004: Scotch® tape is named a "Humble Masterpiece" by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The exhibit features more than 100 simple items, including Scotch tape, that are described as "masterpieces of design deserving our admiration."
2007: Richard Drew inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Scotch® Transparent Tape recognized as a National Historic Chemical Landmark.
Further Reading
- 3M Awards (2007 Recognition) (3M Company)
- Richard G. (Gurley) Drew biography (Minnesota Science & Technology Hall of Fame)
Landmark Designation and Acknowledgments
Landmark Designation
The American Chemical Society designated Scotch® Transparent Tape as a National Historic Chemical Landmark in a ceremony on September 19, 2007, at the 3M Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. The text of the plaque commemorating the landmark reads:
In 1925 Richard Drew invented Scotch® Masking Tape, which marked 3M’s entry into tape manufacturing. Five years later Drew invented Scotch® Transparent Tape, the first waterproof, clear adhesive tape. Introduced during the Great Depression, Scotch Transparent Tape quickly filled the need of Americans to prolong the life of items they could not afford to replace. These inventions have grown to a family of more than 900 pressure-sensitive tapes used by professionals and consumers in office, medical, electrical, construction, and many other applications.
Acknowledgments
Adapted for the internet from “Scotch® Transparent Tape,” produced by the National Historic Chemical Landmarks program of the American Chemical Society in 2007.
3M, Scotch®, and Post-it® are trademarks of 3M Company.
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