Now I won’t have to touch parcel tape (no more fighting with the evil stuff when bundling up Laundry bags anymore, we’ve got super fit and speedy couriers to deliver your orders now!) any more, I want to know more about my enemy:

Erm I’ve done a bit of research here, and I’m not happy with my sources…  

Sellotape is a European brand of transparent, cellulose-based, pressure-sensitive adhesive tape, and is the leading brand of clear sticky tape in the United Kingdom. Sellotape is generally used for joining, sealing, attaching and mending. It is also referred to as cellophane tape. (NOT by anyone I know).

The name “Sellotape” was coined in 1937 by Colin Kininmonth and George Gray, who made the product by applying rubber resin to cellophane film. The process they used was based on a French patent. The tape was originally manufactured in Acton, West London. The Sellotape brand now covers a variety of tape products, and is frequently used in place of the word ‘tape’ in the United Kingdom due to its market exposure.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a magical product called “Spellotap” is used to hold together Ron Weasley‘s broken wand, with limited success and Harry’s glasses due to Dudley bullying in the first movie until Hermione fixes them.

ERM, is it also sponsored by J.K.?

Although it is a trademarked brand name, Scotch Tape is widely used in the USA as a generic term any transparent adhesive tape. Scotch Tape is a family of adhesive tapes manufactured by 3M Company It was developed in the 1930s by inventor Richard Drew.  Use of the term ‘Scotch’ in the name has a rather pejorative origin. During testing, the tape came loose because it was not fully coated with adhesive. A remark was made that the stingy Scotch bosses need to put more adhesive on it - the name has stuck ever since .

 

3M was founded in 1902 at the Lake Superior town of Two Harbors, Minn. Five businessmen set out to mine a mineral deposit for grinding-wheel abrasives. But the deposits proved to be of little value, and the new Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. quickly moved to nearby Duluth to focus on sandpaper products.  Years of struggle ensued until the company could master quality production and a supply chain. The world’s first waterproof sandpaper, which reduced airborne dusts during automobile manufacturing, was developed in the early 1920s. 

 

A second major milestone occurred in 1925 when Richard G. Drew, a young lab assistant, invented masking tape – an innovative step toward diversification and the first of many Scotch® Pressure-Sensitive Tapes.  In the following years, technical progress resulted in Scotch® Cellophane Tape for box sealing and soon hundreds of practical uses were discovered.  In the early 1940s, 3M was diverted into defence materials for World War II, which was followed by new ventures, such as Scotchlite™ Reflective Sheeting for highway markings, magnetic sound recording tape, filament adhesive tape and the start of 3M’s involvement in the graphic arts field with offset printing plates.

 

In 1980, 3M introduced Post-it® Notes, which created a whole new category in the marketplace and changed people’s communication and organization behaviour forever (All of them?).  In 2004, sales topped $20 billion for the first time, with innovative new products contributing significantly to growth.

 

Recent innovations include Post-it® Super Sticky Notes,  Scotch® Transparent Duct Tape, optical films for LCD televisions and a new family of Scotch-Brite® Cleaning Products that give consumers the right scrubbing power for a host of cleaning jobs.

 

A host of cleaning jobs - is that the collective noun?

Trackback URL