Scotch Tape

Scotch Tape is a brand name used for certain pressure-sensitive tapes manufactured by 3M as part of the company's Scotch brand. The term may also be applied to their magnetic tape products which were sold under the Scotch brand.

History

The precursor to the current tapes was developed in the 1930s in St. Paul, Minnesota by Richard Drew to seal a then-new transparent material known as cellophane.

Trade names

Although it is a trademark and a brand name, Scotch tape is sometimes used as a generic term. The Scotch brand includes many different constructions (backings, adhesives, etc.) and colors of tape.

The use of the term Scotch in the name was a pejorative meaning "stingy" in the 1920s and 1930s. The brandname Scotch came about around 1925 while Richard Drew was testing his first masking tape to determine how much adhesive he needed to add. The bodyshop painter became frustrated with the sample masking tape and exclaimed, "Take this tape back to those Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to put more adhesive on it!" The name was soon applied to the entire line of 3M tapes.