History isn’t always a pleasant thing or a nostalgic look at times past. Sometimes it’s a reminder of man’s inhumanity to man. On August 4, 1944, Anne Frank and her companions were discovered in the hiding place that had kept them free from the Nazis for 24 months. It was an anonymous tip that led to Frank’s eventual death of Typhoid in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp mere weeks before the camp was liberated by British troops.
It was a normal day for the hidden, the day the secret police banged on the front door of the building. An anonymous tip had told them of how workers brought supplies into the building and that there may be people, who should have left on train cars long ago, hiding inside. Early morning, while the workers were busy at their desks, the police arrived and forced Victor Kugler to show them the Secret Annex. Four days of interrogation followed.
There are many office items we use on a regular basis without giving much thought to their origin or development and Post-It notes by 3M is one of those products. The adhesive note paper was developed in 1970 by 3M scientist Spencer Silver. He was attempting to find a strong adhesive but what he developed was amazingly weak and stuck to items but was easily lifted off. No one was quite sure what to do with it but Silver hung on to it just in case. Silver promoted his product within 3M but could not drum up much interest.
In 1974 Art Fry, a 3M colleague of Silvers, came up with an idea for a personal use of the product. Fry sang in a church choir and bookmarks he used to mark his hymnbook kept slipping out. He coated the bookmarks in the weak adhesive and noticed that it kept them in place and could be removed without leaving any residue. Fry further developed the idea and 3M launched its product in 1977 but the public was skeptical so it was not a successful debut. A year later 3M decided to give away free samples to the people of Boise, Idaho. 90% of those that tried the product said they would buy it and by 1980 it was being sold across the nation. By the next year, Post-It notes were sold in Canada and Europe.
Post-It notes have become one of the best selling and most known office supplies of all time but they are manufactured exclusively at the 3M plant in Cynthiana, KY. The original Post –It notes have the traditional small strip of glue that adheres well to smooth flat surfaces but in 2003 they introduced Super Sticky notes that use a stronger glue to stick better to rougher or vertical surfaces. 3M makes a product with adhesive covering the entire back of the note and the U.S. Post Office uses them to address and forward mail.
There are a wide range of sizes and colors of the notes offered to meet a large variety of needs. The next time you scribble a message on one of these 3M Post-It notes remember the twists and turns in the development of the little yellow notepad we use on a daily basis.
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