Origins: Post-It Note Adhesive
The Sticky Yellow Square
In 1968 Spencer Silver (PhDA&S’66), asenior chemist at 3M’s Central ResearchLabs, developed a peculiar adhesive.Made out of tiny bubbles, it was strongenough to hold papers together but weakenough that they could be pulled apart.It could be reused several times before itlost its stick. Unsure what to do with hiscreation, Silver tried to interest his colleaguesat 3M in his invention.
“It was part of my job as a researcherto develop new adhesives, and at thattime we wanted to develop bigger, stronger,tougher adhesives,” he told CNN.“This was none of those.”
Five years passed before new 3M productdevelopment researcher Arthur Fryhad an idea. Fry sang in a church choir,and every time he opened his hymnal hisbookmark fell out. Tired of picking it up,he realized Silver’s adhesive was just whathe needed to keep his bookmark in place.Voilà, the concept of the Post-it note wasborn, and the product launched in 1980.Two years after appearing on the market,the iconic yellow notes had become a staplefor offices, schools and homes. Today,more than 50 billion Post-it note productsare sold every year.
As for Silver, his name appears onmore than 22 U.S. patents.
Photo by iStock.com/bluestocking