All the products we use everyday, who invented them and how did the idea pop into their head? Such as Scotch Tape…was it invented in Scotland? No. Richard Drew, the inventor of Scotch Tape, cut his teeth as an inventor by creating masking tape in his spare time. His first job was a lab technician at 3M where he delivered sandpaper samples to auto manufacturers, and after hearing many an auto painter curse over their DIY masking solutions he decided to design the perfect tape. He worked on it at 3M at first but after he was scolded and told to get back to work he continued the project at home. Drew eventually made his masking tape from crepe paper, cabinetmaker’s glue, and glycerin in 1925 and got a big promotion. Ok, that’s funny. At first the company told him to stop wasting time on their dime and then he comes up with a great product and it’s “oh Drew, we didn’t mean to treat you like sh.t.” But wait there’s more. He heard about bakeries having a problem after they started using newly invented cellophane for packaging. They had nothing attractive to seal it with. Drew went to work on a tape that stayed clear because the adhesive on his masking tape looked brown. Voila! cellophane tape with adhesive made from oil, resins, and rubber was invented and debuted in 1930. The name “Scotch tape” was inspired by an early version of Drew’s masking tape which had adhesive only on the edges, causing one auto painter to ask why Drew was so “Scotch” a slang term for cheap. Ouch, sorry Scottish people. Because the tape came out right at the start of the Depression people used the tape for everything from mending clothes to repairing cracked eggs. Remember when 3M got all up in Richard’s grill! Yeah, the dude only invented one of the most used products on Earth you a-holes.
Gunga, galunga
Garry