Tuesday Open Line


The difficulty of neatly painting cars two different colors led to the patenting of one of the world’s most practical items — at least around gift-giving time — on this date in 1930. Five years earlier, Richard Drew, while working for the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing company, had developed an easy-to-peel, glue-backed masking tape to ease the task of separating two-tone paint jobs on new cars, which until then involved moistened plaster tape. Then, he expanded its use by introducing a clear backing. The result, an immediate hit, became known as Scotch Tape. Now, it’s just one of 600 manufacturers of adhesive products produced by the nation’s economy, a sector that generates sales of more than $10 billion a year and provides jobs for over 22,000 people. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.