Scotch Tape

Scotch Tape denotes the line of adhesive tapes manufactured by 3M as part of the company's Scotch brand.

The precursor to the current line of tapes was originally developed in the 1930s by inventor Richard Drew to seal a then-new transparent material known as cellophane^[1]. Although it is a trademarked brand name, it is often used in the U.S. and other countries as a generic term for any transparent adhesive tape.

Use of the term "Scotch" in the name has a pejorative origin. In order to cut production costs, 3M attached the adhesive only to the edges of the tape. A remark was made by a St. Paul area automobile detailer^{[citation needed]} that the stingy Scotch bosses need to put more adhesive on it - the name has stuck ever since. Scotty McTape, a kilt-wearing cartoon boy, was the brand's mascot for two decades, first appearing in 1944. The familiar plaid design was introduced to the packaging soon afterwards in 1945.

The Scotch® brand and Scotch® Tape are registered trademarks of 3M.

3M branded audio tape (cat. no. 996)

Besides using "Scotch" as a prefix in its brand names (Scotchgard and Scotchlite), the company also used the name "Scotch" for its (mainly professional) audiovisual magnetic tape products^[2], until the early 1990s when the tapes were branded solely with the 3M logo. Eventually, in 1996, 3M pulled out of the magnetic tape business, selling all its assets to Quantegy (which itself is a spin-off of Ampex).

See also

• Magic Tape, the most well-known Scotch Tape
• Sellotape

References

1. ^ http://www.3m.com/brands/scotch/anniversary/images/ScotchHistoryFinal.pdf
2. ^ http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/3mtape/soundtalk/soundtalkbull12.pdf

External links

• The History of Cellophane Tape and the Scotch Brand
• Scotch 75th Anniversary — pages with history information and old commercials featuring Scotty McTape
• www.scotch-tape.co.uk — the official website for the UK
• www.scotchbrand.com — the official website for the USA

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