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Basis of Duct Tape
Richard Gurley Drew working for 3M invented masking tape, a paper-based tape with a mildly sticky adhesive. This was the basis for duct tape. -
The Invention of Duct Tape
The idea for what became duct tape came from an ordnance-factory worker, and mother of two Navy sailors, named Vesta Stoudt, who worried that problems with ammunition-box seals would cost soldiers precious time in battle. She wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943 with the idea to seal the boxes with a fabric tape, which she had tested at her factory. -
Coming to a store near you!
After the war, the duck tape product was sold in hardware stores for household repairs. The Melvin A. Anderson Company of Cleveland, Ohio, acquired the rights to the tape in 1950. -
Ductape's Firey (Resistant) Upbringing
By 1960 a St. Louis, Missouri, HVAC company, Albert Arno, Inc., trademarked the name "Ductape" for their "flame-resistant" duct tape, capable of holding together at 350–400 °F (177–204 °C). -
A New Company
In 1971, Jack Kahl bought the Anderson firm and renamed it Manco. -
A New Name
In 1975, Kahl rebranded the duct tape made by his company. Because the previously used generic term "duck tape" had fallen out of use, he was able to trademark the brand "Duck Tape" and market his product complete with a yellow cartoon duck logo. -
Rolling it it
In the late 1990s, 3M was running a $300 million duct tape division, the US industry leader.
