History of Duck Tape

Duct tape has adhered itself so well to American culture that it's become much more than a roll of tape. It's an enduring symbol of all in this world that is functional.

So how did this sticky wonder come about? It was World War II and there was a need for a strong, flexible, durable, waterproof tape that could seal canisters, repair cracked windows, repair trucks and help the war effort in general. Permacell, a division of the Johnson and Johnson Company, stepped up to this challenge.

Using medical tape as a base, they applied two new technologies. Polycoat adhesives gave the tape its unshakable stick and polyethylene coating allowed them to laminate the tape to a cloth backing, making it extremely strong and flexible. The resulting tape was nicknamed "Duck Tape" for its ability to repel water, while ripping easily into strips for fast convenient use.

After the war the tape was put to the more civilian use of holding ducts together. So the product changed from a nameless army green tape to the familiar gray duct tape.

Thirty years later, Jack Kahl, former CEO of Manco, Inc., changed the name of the product to Duck Tape® and put ‘Manco T. Duck’ on the Duck Tape® logo, giving personality to a commodity product. Manco, Inc. also began to shrink-wrap and label the product, making it easier to stack for retailers, and easier to distinguish different grades for customers.

Now, over 50 years after its invention, Duck® tape is sold in more than 20 colors and is touted by its followers for having a nearly endless amount of uses. What will happen to Duck Tape®? What advancements in Duck Tape® technology will be made? Only time will tell.

Talk: Duct tape

I am unsure of the 'fair use' for this great photo: Screen shot from Apollo 13 footage showing Jim Lovell with duct tape. from: http://www.universetoday.com/63673/13-things-that-saved-apollo-13-part-10-duct-tape/
That article also has interview quotes, including this great one:

NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill: “...Of course ... the solution to every conceivable knotty problem has got to be duct tape! And so it was.”

(Duct tape is attributed to saving Apollo 13).

I don't know how to attribute this type of article. This is something like a blog by Nancy Atkinson on April 26, 2010; Senior Editor, Universe Today. ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 02:44, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

 Done per WP:BOLD Also: Woodfill said that duct tape had been stowed on board every mission since early in the Gemini days. ~E 184.76.225.106 (talk) 05:24, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

Since that isn't a direct quote, would it be cited to the engineer, with ref to article? -- or cited to article with ref to engineer? I would DIY, but this is currently beyond my WP skill-set.'~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 06:25, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

I added According to NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill, duct tape had been stowed on board every mission since early in the Gemini days. -- but somebody who knows how to cite this should do so (Thanks!) ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 07:22, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

I would guess that there would be no issue with using the photo as it seems fairly obvious that it was taken by an employee of the US gov't during their regular duties (no matter how irregular the circumstances were) and would therefore be in the public domain. Dismas|^(talk) 04:40, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

Duck Products is listed in See also; and "duct" vs. "duck" is discussed in this article. Shouldn't there be some mention of ShurTech and their trademark? Perhaps in the etymology section? Trademark: "...property of ShurTech or other members of The ShurTech Group, LLC" ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 06:07, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

 Done I added it to the following sentence, which seems like an appropriate place, since it mentions "Duck brand duct tape":

Duck Products, the manufacturer of Duck brand duct tape (Duck Tape®), annually sponsors a competition that offers a college scholarship to the person who creates the most stylishprom formal wear made from Duck Tape.

Should there be a footnote? ... property of ShurTech or other members of The ShurTech Group, LLC ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 06:55, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

Problem with: The tape is named so because it was used during the Vietnam War... -- the term was used prior to that, especially in auto racing circles and Bonneville racing in particular. I doubt there is mention in publications since it was essentially 'common knowledge' back then. Following WW 2, GIs, especially mechanics, returned with an appreciation for the wonders of duct tape (and its variants) and many veterans went into racing. ~Eric F[edit) ~Eric F184.76.225.106 (talk) 13:26, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

The following might be a misinterpretation from the cited article: The tape is named so because it was used during the Vietnam War to repair helicopter rotor blades, thus earning the name 100-MPH tape.^[1]

I don't have a copy of 'Vietnam Stories, Army Times (September 1993)', but it might say something more like: ...they called it "100-MPH tape" because... -- which is not the same thing, (implying that was the origin of the term). ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 13:35, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

It's also a satirical allusion to the military's penchant for acronyms and numbers. ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 15:13, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

Seek consensus here and stop edit warring.--Canoe1967 (talk) 04:38, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

Duck tape is a trademarked brand name, and otherwise a mispronunciation and an urban legend. I see that it has been included in the header now, and the actual etymology has been removed from the etymology section so that only the urban legend remains. I don't think that does the article any good. The article survived just fine for a long time with duct tape as the only name of the product, and then an etymology section that acknowledged the sourced urban legend about it being originally called "duck tape" while also explaining the traditional etymology.The Yar (talk) 11:17, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

This article was first written in March 2002. If you look for sources that predate Wikipedia's article, you'll find some books and websites. The Jumbo Duct Tape Book published in 2000 says "The first name for duct tape was "duck". During World War II, the U.S. military needed waterproof tape to keep moisture out of ammunition cases. They enlisted the Johnson & Johnson Permacel Division to manufacture the tape. Because it was waterproof, everyone referred to it as duck tape (like water off a duck's back)." The 2003 Encyclopedia of Modern Everyday Inventions quotes the previous book, adding to its authority. The names 'duck' and 'duct' are both valid. With publishing dates of 2000 and 2003, these sources are free from the worry that the sources took their information from this article which first appeared without any mention of J&J Permacel. The original March 2002 version gave this URL as the reference, another website which describes the WWII J&J beginnings, with both terms explained.

The Duck Brand history page gives this basic version as well. We don't trust it as much (because it is presumed biased) but it repeats what is found in the books: "It was World War II and there was a need for a strong, flexible, durable, waterproof tape that could seal canisters, repair cracked windows, repair trucks and help the war effort in general. Permacell, a division of the Johnson and Johnson Company, stepped up to this challenge. Using medical tape as a base, they applied two new technologies. Polycoat adhesives gave the tape its unshakable stick and polyethylene coating allowed them to laminate the tape to a cloth backing, making it extremely strong and flexible. The resulting tape was nicknamed "Duck Tape" for its ability to repel water, while ripping easily into strips for fast convenient use. After the war the tape was put to the more civilian use of holding ducts together. So the product changed from a nameless army green tape to the familiar gray duct tape. Thirty years later, Jack Kahl, former CEO of Manco, Inc., changed the name of the product to Duck Tape® and put ‘Manco T. Duck’ on the Duck Tape® logo, giving personality to a commodity product."

That places the "Duck Brand" origin at about 1975. The book Guerrilla Marketing says about Manco, ""Manco decided to play on the fact that people often refer to duct tape as 'duck tape'." Market share in 1979 was just about zero, then it grew to dominate the segment because of strong marketing. These assertions are correct, the ones saying that people were using the term 'duck tape' prior to 1975. In the 1972 book Creative Candlemaking, author Thelma R. Newman describes using adhesive "duck tape" to hold a candle mold together. The same year, the magazine Insulation/Circuits published a glossary saying "Duck Tape" was a sticky adhesive tape made of heavy cotton fabric, called cotton duck. The grandpappy of these instances is the 1945 National Directory of Commodity Specifications which specifies insulation quoted from a 1936 guide: "Primarily for direct earth Installation, Includes lead covered metallic armored, lead and Jute covered, lead and duck tape covered, and nonmetalllc armored cables; general description, conductors, stranding, rubber Insulation thickness..." (Bolding added). This pre-WWII duck tape would have been simply a long strip of duck cloth produced without Permacel's adhesive coating which was not yet invented. ("Tape" is an archaic word for long fabric strips such as ribbon.) So there is established usage for the term "duck tape" prior to the product made by the J&J Permacel division. And the Duck Brand people say that the WWII tape was unnamed, that it picked up the name "duct tape" from post-war usage. Binksternet (talk) 14:35, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

That is all good information, but it was covered fairly well in earlier versions of the article, and now the "history and etymology" section is thick with misleading and inaccurate information. Duck is a thick interwoven fabric, and anything rolled into a long thin strip may be referred to as tape, e.g., "ticker tape." Any thin, coiled strip can be called a tape, which is why adhesive tape is called tape, and it's why cotton woven into a thick fabric and then cut into a long strip is called "cotton duck tape." This fabric strip is the material being referred to in citations from 1900 - 1945, and it is a material that still exists today. It has never been an ingredient in duct tape and doesn't have anything to do with duct tape. The story about WWII soldiers and "water off of a duck's back" has no original source citations to back it up, and it conflicts with the "cotton duck" story, too. All of the sources are "so the story goes" sources, and they all seem to point back to the Duck Brand web site, whereas actual first-hand citations referring to the product called it "duct tape" long before the Duck Brand cam around and spread the story about it being duck tape. As etymologist Dr. Brown explained, the "duck" version makes a good story, but it is quack etymology. The Yar (talk) 19:28, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

I don't see what you're seeing. The thin cotton duck tape used in 1942 to make military tape was easily torn by hand; it was not your usual thick, sturdy canvas duck fabric but something much flimsier, purposely made with tearing in mind. Nevertheless it was known as cotton duck tape.

The "water off a duck's back" connection is conjecture that I removed.

Which Dr. Brown are you referring to? Binksternet (talk) 20:09, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

My mistake, I meant Dr. Freeman. I properly cited her Boston Globe article previously, but the citation and information has been removed. As she states, there is no primary source to back up the claim that it was first called duck tape. There are no primary sources regarding what it was called in WWII. All sources telling the duck tape story are reciting the same story from the Duct Tape guys book (or likely, in many cases, this WP article, a circular citation phenomenon I encounter frequently). In turn, the Duct Tape guys book references a supposed conversation with a Johnson & Johnson rep, but otherwise isn't substantiated. The Yar (talk) 20:23, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Here it is, Jan Freeman's article "Tale of the tape" from March 2010. She expresses her doubt but cannot find evidence to prove her point, that the term "duck tape" was probably not used in the 1940s and '50s. Freeman's idea goes against William Safire's whose opinion is somewhat more significant, and against the other books and magazine articles in the article's reference section. Others assert that there is a significant connection between old-fashioned plain duck tape and the WWII stuff formulated by J&J's Revolite division. Freeman's doubt, delivered without proof, is not enough to trump those other sources. Binksternet (talk) 21:24, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

"All of those other sources" are all just retelling the hearsay story from the Duct Tape Guys book. There are no primary sources at all that back up the belief that duct tape was ever called duck tape. That's the point. Unless someone has an early primary reference to duct tape being called duck tape, this is all make-believe. I'm not saying it should be censored out, but the previous treatement was better. It acknowledged the folklore etymology as a possibility but one without any clear proof. I also don't see any sources backing up that duct tape is made from duck fabric, despite that now be listed as fact in the article. It's a nice story, but there are no clear sources for it, and the sources we do have contradict one another. Was it because of water off a duck's back, or because of cotton duck fabric? The earliest primary-source documented references to this product referred to it as "duct tape." That is traditionally how etymology works, and not by retelling folktales. I'm not going to edit-war, but i'd at least appreciate that the completely incorrect information and citations be removed. One source says that it "may not have been made from duck fabric" and this articles cites that source for a claim that it was made from duck fabric. That's a problem. The Yar (talk) 22:22, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

William Safire does not tell the "hearsay" story from the Duct Tape Guys. Safire is the guy who you have to conquer in order to eviscerate the article's "duck tape" basis. Generally when I tackle a topic, I look to the most prominent sources to see what they say. In this case, Safire wins. Binksternet (talk) 08:19, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

Maybe section on inappropriate uses would be appropriate. Here's one:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/07/school-workers-on-leave-after-girl-with-downs-syndrome-has-shoes-duct-taped-to/

No doubt there are many more. 72.34.80.28 (talk) 06:25, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

This would make for a long section of no encyclopedic value, IMO. - SummerPhD (talk) 14:07, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

I do not want the encyclopedia to offer suggestions to any copycat vandals or criminals. Binksternet (talk) 14:17, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

So Why Did They Invent Pink Duct Tape?

My daughter-in-law handed me some pink duct tape and asked me to help her fasten it to some audio leads for her electric guitar. I took the sticky wrap and assisted as requested until I suddenly screwed up my face, shook my head from side to side, and focused on the pink adhesive in hand. 

“What the hell is that?”

“It’s pink duct tape,” she said. I raised my eyebrows, made a frown, and grimaced shrugging my shoulders.

I’m sorry, but I had never seen pink duct tape. Why would anyone want to use a bright pink tape on an air conditioning duct? Duct tape is supposed to be battleship grey, right? Or perhaps ductwork grey…maybe black…but certainly not shocking pink! Why would any man go into a hardware store and ask for pink duct tape? I was confused.

I decided to make duct tape a personal research project. I needed to find out why would the manufacturers of such a testosterone-oriented product (undoubtedly one of the most important home improvement products of the 20th Century) decide to manufacture and market a pastel impressionist color for an item that is used to repair metal air conditioning ductwork, or for any number of home repair projects normally done in the garage? Was this color part of a feminist conspiracy to establish political correctness in the home improvement industry or to blatantly pander to female do-it-yourselfers?

Where to get the answer? The internet of course. First of all, I needed to figure out what term to enter into the Google search box. Was it “duct” or “duck” tape? The roll handed to me by my daughter-in-law was manufactured as Duck Tape® brand tape with a cute water fowl logo and its own web site. Was this cutesy logo the marketing brainchild of some Madison Avenue advertising executive? Do shiny suit account representatives in Manhattan even know about duct tape?

“Duct” tape was apparently invented during World War II and had its original uses to repair ammunition cases, jeeps, firearms, and aircraft. Its major advantages were being water resistant, weather resistant, strong, flexible, oil & grease resistant, and with an amazing capacity to stick to virtually any clean surface. One story has it that it was originally called “Duck” tape during the war because it was created using cotton duck cloth fabric as the basis and applying layers of polyethylene or rubber. Specialized versions have been developed over the years to support electricians in the entertainment industry [my daughter-in-law apparently does not know that these varieties are black and not pink] and to repair fiberglass racing car bodies. OK here I can see the development of a variety colors especially if you think about auto body repairs on the race track. I can picture the multi-colored formula racing cars stopping into the pits where a crew of burley mechanics and metalsmiths patch up the odd hole picked up while racing hundreds of miles per hour down the tract. Ah, the smell of burning rubber and gasoline!

Duct tape has been used to repair bear-damaged aircraft and make them airworthy for at least one more flight and most notably to repair more than one U.S. space craft on lunar missions. Multiple books have been published on the creative uses of duct tape and there are apparently contests for original duct tape prom dresses. There are also rumors that NASA had instructions to use duct tape to restrain any unruly astronauts during space flight.

Of interest is that “duct” tape is generally not certified to repair commercial ductwork since it is not fire resistant. There is also no agreement on the original spelling since it is argued that the water resistant property (similar to water rolling off a duck’s back) meant the real original term was “duck” tape.

Other than the clothing contests, most of this information sounded fairly manly to me and so I still could not fathom why someone would manufacture and sell pink duct tape? Duct tape is clearly in the domain of men and men that get their hands dirty doing things in a garage or a barn or other places that men go to fix things. I clearly needed some field research since the only duct tape in my garage was the traditional battleship grey. I set off on my quest for the answer.

Home Depot sells a variety of colors of adhesive tape. I guess I don’t get out much since I was surprised to discover blue and also green painters tape; tan RhinoGrip double-sided adhesive tape; and black pipe wrap tape. Nashua brand markets red stucco tape and some black, white, and transparent duct tape. But the bulk of the “duct” tape sold by Gorilla, 3M, or Scotch Brands was either grey or silver in color. 

When I asked an employee at Lowes’, he said that he never heard of pink duct tape and could not understand why any real man would want to buy it. I grunted like Tim “The Toolman” Taylor and walked out into the parking lot where I was met by the throaty sounds and acrid smells of diesel engines and manual truck transmissions. No “sissy” tape at Lowe’s or Home Depot. 

But as I drove home, I still did not know where you get pink duct tape. So when I got home, I texted my daughter-in-law and asked where she bought her roll. She replied “Target.” Who the hell goes to Target to buy duct tape?

Not wanting to get back into the car again, I returned my search to the internet. By now, I have learned that Amazon.com sells virtually everything, I checked out their web site next. I was dumbfounded. You can buy duct tape manufactured by a variety of companies in the following cornucopia of colors: aqua, beige, blaze orange, burgundy, cha cha cherry, cookie dough, deep blue ocean, electric blue, flamingo pink, florescent green, florescent orange, florescent pink, funky flamingo, green clover, island lime, merlot mania, midnight madness, mud puddle, neon green, neon pink, olive drab, purple, purple duchess, silver coin, sunburst yellow, tranquil teal, winking white, and woodland forest green. Is there really a market for all of these colors? Are there more duct tape colors than colors of lipstick? What in the world would a man do with island lime duct tape and how could he look a hardware store clerk in the eye and actually ask for this color? Tranquil teal the same. At least olive drab could be explained as necessary to repair some camping equipment.

I assumed that the tape my daughter-in-law uses is neon pink and learned that Amazon.com sells this color in six packs. There is that much demand for pink duct tape that it is sold in six packs? Amazon.com also sells a florescent pink industrial duct tape by Uline. 

I kept looking at the Amazon.com web site and learned that you can buy duct tape with the following patterns: camouflage, cosmic tie dye, digital camouflage, flames, hounds tooth, leopard, paisley, polka dot, spotted leopard, tie dye, wicker, wood print, and zebra. Really? Why? OK, maybe men would use the camouflage pattern to fix a hunting blind.

And you can purchase duct tape with the logos from 23 universities. OK, I can see merit for the wicker and wood print designs and perhaps the olive drab color. I can also see the value in college logo patterns if school pranks are still required like they were when I was a freshman. But do we really need hounds tooth and paisley?

I pondered: how much time has been devoted to determining the market demand for all of these duct tape colors and patterns? Who exactly created this market for colored duct tape or is this overabundance of choice another example of capitalist free enterprise creating markets by saturating the public with a product that they did not know that they needed? Is there some government agency or industrial manufacturing group that regulates or at least oversees duct tape colors and patterns? Is the funky flamingo color consistent across manufacturers? 

Are there duct tape trade shows where the annual patterns are paraded like the latest fashions from Paris? I tried to visualize an adhesive convention with large displays of the latest colors and patterns shown on massive electronic displays with tents and tables with samples. Where would one hold a duct tape trade show? Fire Island? The Detroit suburb that is the home of Tim “The Toolman” Taylor? Would color coded duct tape hold matching color coded miniature umbrellas on the sides of frothy tall drinks made with fruits and foam? Clearly there was more to research. I continued my quest.

Since most of the unusual designs and colors originate from Duck Tape® Brand, I decided to look at their web site to see if I could get some more answers to why we had access to so many unusual colors and so many patterns? The Duck Tape® products pages lead to links with displays of some eleven patterns and seventeen colors currently being sold…but interestingly, not pink. There are instructions on how to use your university Duck Tape® to make logo specific flags, pennants, megaphones, and T-shirts. There are instructions on how to create Duck Tape® luggage and wallets, picture frames, and Halloween costumes. 

There is a Duck Tape Club™ where you can choose your very own avatar and report on ducktivities. You can Ask the Duck® and make Duck® Tweets. Helpful links take you to the Duck Tape® Facebook page and videos on You Tube. The Duck Tape® Facebook page boasts 5,316,999 “likes” [as of March 6, 2013]. That is over three times as many “likes” than recorded for the White House. The posts by fans are hilarious; 

“Please check out my page for items like this lady bug hair clip and many more cute accessories made from duck tape.”

“We can use some of that duct tape for all the stuff that fell off the walls during the earthquake.”

There are thousands of photos including the 2011 Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest Winners! 

I finally begin to see what is going on: the various colors and patterns are used to create innovative crafts or silly things to wear or display. Duck Tape® is not designed for use as an industrial or home improvement product.

Then I finally see what I have been searching for. “Duck® Brand Goes Pink.” The company indeed offers pink Duck Tape® and will donate a portion of the proceeds to support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. There are other pink products in their program. I get it. Pink in support of breast cancer research. Not because it is needed to mend pink ductwork, but because it is part of a general trend in the U.S. to label backing for such research as “pink.” I can support this worthy cause. I have nothing against helping women beat breast cancer and have donated to such causes. It just never dawned on me that there would be a relationship between pink duct tape and support for breast cancer research.

So finally I have my answer. If you want duct tape to perform traditional home improvement or industrial type jobs associated with heating, ventilating, or air conditioning ductwork, then you go to Home Depot or Lowe’s and you get grey or perhaps white, black, or transparent tape. This burly duct tape is the sticky stuff that is hard to get off but wonderful for mending and creating legends about how duct tape can fix anything that does not need to be lubricated by WD-40.

Pink Duck Tape® or pink duct tape, or for that matter any of the specialty colors and patterns, have only been around for the past 5-6 years and are primarily supported by ardent fans that use the product for crafts. And wrapping the leads on an electric guitar. You buy this product primarily at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Target, or Amazon.com. 

I am going to guess that Duck Tape® is creating a market much the same as the greeting cards industry is blamed for creating Grandparent’s Day and perhaps a few other “holidays.” It is merely capitalism run amuck but I do not think we need a federal agency to regulate their activities. Perhaps we should all go out and buy stock in the company that makes Duck Tape® to get in on the front end of a coming wave of Duck Tape® mania.

So I have my daughter-in-law to thank for my brief excursion into the world of duct tape and the discovery of more than I had ever hoped to learn about a normal every day product found in most every home in America. And used to wire audio leads to electric guitars.

Who invented duct tape?

During times of war, money and resources are funneled into the development of new technologies. In 1942, American GIs in Europe were in the midst of fighting World War II and a durable material was needed to seal ammunition cases, something that was similar to surgical tape, but tougher and water-resistant. Back in the United States, Permacel, a division of Johnson & Johnson invented duct tape in its modern form. It resembled earlier pressure sensitive adhesives, but it featured a third waterproof layer that earlier models had lacked [9]. Its waterproof layer caused many to dub it “duck tape” because of its similarity to a duck’s waterproof feathers. The three characteristic layers were comprised of a thick coating of rubber-based adhesive, a strip of cloth, and waterproof plastic or aluminized sealant [10]. The tape was waterproof, could be torn by hand, and was very durable. Even during the war, soldiers found many more uses for the tape than was originally intended such as repairing jeeps and guns and making crude bandages.

Who Invented The Duct Tape?

The duct tape was invented in 1942. The US military needed a way to keep moisture out of ammunition casings and hired Johnson & Johnson Co. to solve this problem. The company’s division called Permacel discovered a way to create a special tape from cotton duck. This caused it to be called the duck tape. The cotton is then sandwiched by a rubber adhesive and a waterproof substance made from polyethylene. The resulting product was a complete success.

Used in World War 2

During World War II, the duct tape was used for more than just making moisture proof, ammunition casings. The soldiers eventually learned to use duct tape in repairing weapons such as handguns and rifles and military vehicles from jeeps to aircrafts. The invention’s popularity spread throughout the war and gain the moniker “Panzer tape”, derived from the most powerful tank during World War II, the Panzer tank.

After World War 2

The end of the war did not mark the death of the duct tape. This time of peace lead to prosperity, which gave way to more construction works both in commercial and residential. With the development of centralized air conditioning and heaters, the duct tape found another job. Ducts for cold and hot air are installed and connected using Johnson & Johnson’s military tape. Due to this purpose, the “duck” tape became “duct” tape. To match the color of ducts the military green color was abandoned and silver and gray became the duct tape’s default colors. But the demand for this tape when farther into the finished buildings and homes.

It get popular, fast

Workers of the ducts eventually used the duct tape to repair all works in their homes. Their wives eventually shares their experiences with it and more and more people started using duct tapes for repairing toys, furniture and for fastening. This development leads to innovations in the duct tape creating versions for home usage as well. Smaller versions of the duct tape were introduced and variety of colors.

The Woman Who Invented Duct Tape

Written by Margaret on June 21st, 2012 at 3:59PM

As readers of Kilmer House — and The Duct Tape Guys’ popular website – know, duct tape was invented by a Johnson & Johnson operating company in response to a request from the U.S. military for a cloth-based, waterproof tape during World War II.  But have you ever wondered why the Army made that request, and who had the original idea for duct tape?  Well, wonder no more, thanks to Kilmer House reader Kari Santo, whose great grandmother Vesta Stoudt had the idea that led to duct tape.

- See more at: http://www.kilmerhouse.com/2012/06/the-woman-who-invented-duct-tape/#sthash.VD4JUX08.dpuf Meet Vesta Stoudt, whose idea led to duct tape! Photo from The Chicago Sunday Tribune, October 24th 1943 - See more at: http://www.kilmerhouse.com/2012/06/the-woman-who-invented-duct-tape/#sthash.VD4JUX08.dpuf In the 1940s, Vesta Stoudt, a mother with two sons serving in the Navy, went to work in the Green River Ordnance Plant between Dixon and Amboy, Illinois to do her part to help her sons and their fellow servicemen.  So Vesta got a job at Green River inspecting and packing cartridges used to launch rifle grenades that were used by soldiers in the Army and Navy.  The cartridges were packed eleven to a box, and the boxes were taped and waxed to make them waterproof and damp-proof.  The box flaps were sealed with thin paper tape, and a tab of tape was left loose so that it could be pulled to release the waterproof wax coating and open the box.  The problem was that the thin paper tape wasn’t strong enough, and the tabs frequently tore off when soldiers pulled on them to open the ammo boxes, leaving them frantically scrambling to claw the boxes open while under enemy fire.  Lives were at risk –including the lives of her sons.  So Vesta Stoudt came up with a solution:  seal the boxes with a strong, cloth-based waterproof tape instead of the thin paper tape.  Vesta raised the issue with her supervisors but, although they thought it was a good idea, she wasn’t getting anywhere with having it implemented.   Here’s what Vesta Stoudt said: “I suggested we use a strong cloth tape to close seams, and make tab of same.  It worked fine, I showed it to different government inspectors they said it was all right, but I could never get them to change tape.”  [Copy of original letter from Vesta Stoudt to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, February 10, 1943, courtesy of Kari Santo] So Vesta Stoudt did what any other mom with two sons in the Navy would do: she wrote a letter to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt outlining the issue and telling him her idea about how to fix it. - See more at: http://www.kilmerhouse.com/2012/06/the-woman-who-invented-duct-tape/#sthash.VD4JUX08.dpuf Letter from Vesta Stoudt to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, February 10, 1943, courtesy of Kari Santo

“Now your son, my son and our neighbor’s son must pull this tape off some way, perhaps with his teeth or his knife if he is lucky enough to have one, nine chance out of ten he hasn’t any.”  [Copy of original letter from Vesta Stoudt to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, February 10, 1943, courtesy of Kari Santo]

Here’s the diagram of the problem that Vesta sketched out in her letter:

Vesta Stoudt's drawing of the ammo box tab issue, from her letter to President Roosevelt.

“I suggested we use a strong cloth tape to close seams, and make tab of same.  It worked fine, I showed it to different government inspectors they said it was all right, but I could never get them to change tape.  I have two sons out there some where, one in the Pacific Island the other one with the Atlantic Fleet.  You have sons in the service also.  We can’t let them down by giving them a box of cartridges that takes a minute or more to open, the enemy taking their lives, that could have been saved. Had the box been taped with a strong cloth tape that can be opened in a split second.  I didn’t know who to write to Mr. President, so have written you hoping for your boys, my boys, and every man that uses the rifle grenade, that this package of rifle cartridges may be taped with the correct tape.”  [Copy of original letter from Vesta Stoudt to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Feb. 10, 1943, courtesy of Kari Santo]

- See more at: http://www.kilmerhouse.com/2012/06/the-woman-who-invented-duct-tape/#sthash.VD4JUX08.dpuf President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, public domain photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Public Domain Photo of Franklin Delano Roosevelt courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Roosevelt sent Vesta’s letter to the War Production Board in Washington, D.C., and just a few weeks later in March, she received a series of replies from higher-ups in the organization saying that her idea would be considered; that it was being forwarded to the appropriate division and they hoped she would send them any other ideas she had in the future; and finally that her recommendation for the new tape had been approved and was “of exceptional merit.”

Letter to Vesta Stoudt, March 26, 1943, from The War Production Board in Washington D.C., letting her know that her idea for duct tape had been approved. Letter courtesy of Kari Santo.

- See more at: http://www.kilmerhouse.com/2012/06/the-woman-who-invented-duct-tape/#sthash.VD4JUX08.dpuf Because of Johnson & Johnson’s long experience making surgical adhesive tapes, the War Production Board asked Johnson & Johnson to make the tape, which was named “Duck Tape” because, as the story goes, it was 1) waterproof, like a duck and 2) it was made with cotton duck fabric.  The tape soon became known as “100 Mile an Hour Tape” in the military and, because it was strong and waterproof, soldiers used it to repair just about everything.  Vesta Stoudt received a letter from President Roosevelt and earned the Chicago Tribune’s War Worker Award for her idea and her persistence.

General Robert Wood Johnson in uniform during his tenure as head of the Smaller War Plants Corporation in Washington, D.C. in the 1940s, from our archives.

General Robert Wood Johnson, who was President of Johnson & Johnson at that time, would have appreciated Vesta Stoudt’s creativity, initiative and refusal to take “no” for an answer in the service of saving lives.  (After all, it was that same motivation that led Johnson’s father and uncles to found Johnson & Johnson in 1886 to make the first mass-produced sterile surgical products to save patients’ lives.)

Duct tape: the result of a mom trying to help her sons -- and everyone else's sons -- during World War II.

Vesta Stoudt showed that one person with an idea can make a difference, and everyone who served – and continues to serve – in the military owes Vesta a lifesaving debt of gratitude.  And for readers who just love duct tape but whose lives don’t depend on it, the next time you’re repairing a lawnchair, the base of a fan (an actual use of duct tape by this blogger!), or making a duct tape wallet or prom dress, take a minute to thank Vesta Stoudt for this indispensable piece of modern life.

And a huge thank you to Vesta’s great granddaughter Kari Santo for sending in her great grandmother’s amazing story to share on the blog.

The Duct Tape Guys also have the story, here.

- See more at: http://www.kilmerhouse.com/2012/06/the-woman-who-invented-duct-tape/#sthash.VD4JUX08.dpuf

Today I found out

Duct tape is composed of three layers.  The top layer is a plastic, polyethelyne; the middle layer is a fabric mesh; the bottom layer is a rubber-based, pressure sensitive adhesive.  It was originally manufactured simply by pressing these three layers together and was named “Duck Tape”, not “Duct Tape”.   It was invented by Johnson & Johnson’s Permacel division during WWII for the military.  The military specifically needed a waterproof tape that could be used to keep moisture out of ammunition cases.  This is why the originally Duct Tape came only in army green.
Read more at http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/05/what-duct-tape-is-made-of/#50B2dPKEIzeJxhVD.99