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Beginning of Adhesive
Dr. Spencer Silver discovers a unique, repositionable while working as a Senior Scientist in 3M's Corporate Research Lab. -
The First Use
While singing in his church choir, Art Fry, another 3M scientist, tires of losing his place in the hymnal. He dreams of a bookmark that's lightly adhesive. Then he remembers Silver's adhesive, and his dream begins to become real. So, taking advantage of a 3M policy known as the "bootlegging" policy, Fry used a portion of his working hours to develop a solution to his problem. -
Birth
Fry overcomes manufacturing obstacles to produce enough Post-it® Notes to supply 3M's corporate headquarters, and 3M employees are soon hooked. -
Becomes Reality
After test markets show mixed reactions to Post-it® Notes, marketers realize that the secret to success depends upon sampling the product. Marketers travel to Boise, Idaho, to launch the famous sampling effort known as the Boise Blitz. After saturating the office supply industry with samples, an astonishing 90 percent of consumers who try the product say they'll buy it. The product is given the green light by management. -
Introduction
Post-it® Notes are introduced in 11 Western states with heavy sampling. The test is such a success, that consumers start shipping the notes to their co-workers in cities where the product is not yet available. -
Nation-Wide
Post-it® Notes are introduced nationally in the United States. Lee Lacoca and other Fortune 500 CEOs write to say how much they love the product. -
Worldwide
Post-it® Notes are introduced in Canada and Europe. -
10 Years
Post-it® Notes celebrate their 10th anniversary and are featured on many lists of top consumer products of the decade. -
30 Years
Post-it® Notes are now available in eight standard sizes, 25 shapes and 62 colors. Today, there are more than 600 Post-it® Products, sold in more than 100 countries. The now famous "not-so-sticky" is also used on several other 3M products. -
Go Green
Since their introduction, Post-it® Notes have always been recyclable. -
Art
Artist Melynda Schwier-Gierard turns Post-it® Notes into art. Using 30 different types of folds, she uses as many as 60,000 1 1/2 x 2-inch Post-it® Notes to make her uniquely textured, wall-sized panels. -
Interesting Fact
It would take approximately 506,880,000 Post-it® Notes to circle the world once. (Based on the earth's circumference of 24,000 miles and using 2-7/8 inch square Post-it® Notes.)
