1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: a show for those interested in the big and small 4 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:22,080 Speaker 1: moments of history. I'm Gay Bluesier, and today we're talking 5 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 1: about post it notes, a humble, plentiful office supply, and 6 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 1: the best sticky square since the waffle. So, Michelle, what 7 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:45,839 Speaker 1: are you up to? Okay, Um, I invented post it's 8 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: you're kidding? You must have made a fortune. Well yeah, 9 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: no offense, Michelle, But how in the world did you 10 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: think of post it I invented a special kind of glue. 11 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: Oh really, Well, then, I'm sure you wouldn't mind giving 12 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: us a detailed account of exactly how you concocted this 13 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: miracle glue, would you now? Um? The day was April six. 14 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: Post It notes were sold in US stores for the 15 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: first time. Also known as sticky notes, the small square 16 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,480 Speaker 1: pieces of paper each had a strip of readherable glue 17 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: on the back. This allowed a post it note to 18 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: be attached to a document or other surface, and then 19 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,960 Speaker 1: to be removed and reused later, all without leaving behind 20 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: any sticky residue. Post It notes caught on fast with 21 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: American office workers and were later adopted internationally as well. Today, 22 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: the little yellow squares are a fixture of office supply 23 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: closets around the world, with more than fifty billion of 24 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: them produced by the three M Company each year. But 25 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: that office revolution didn't happen overnight. It may not sound 26 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: like a revolutionary idea, but the special glue that's used 27 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: in posted notes really was a game changer, although at 28 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,359 Speaker 1: first no one knew it. The glue was first developed 29 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:17,640 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty eight, a full twelve years before posted 30 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: notes made it to market. At the time, Spencer Silver 31 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: was working as a chemist for three M, a multinational 32 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: conglomerate based in Minnesota. His job was to come up 33 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: with new and better adhesives for use in various industries, 34 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: but the results didn't always match up with their intended use. 35 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: For example, when Silver developed the glue used and posted notes, 36 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: he was actually trying to create a stronger, more reliable 37 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: adhesive for the construction of airplanes. Instead, he wound up 38 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: with a weak adhesive, one that could be removed easily 39 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: while still remaining sticky enough to be reapplied somewhere else. 40 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:01,640 Speaker 1: The secret to that reuse of aility was something Silver 41 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: referred to as micro capsules or microspheres, little blobs of 42 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: plastic adhesive that could be spread across the surface and 43 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:13,920 Speaker 1: then activated when pressure is applied. When you stick a 44 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 1: post it note on an object, some of those microspheres 45 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: on the back of the paper come in contact with 46 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,959 Speaker 1: the object surface and hold the note in place. Then, 47 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: each time you unstick that note and attach it somewhere else, 48 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: some of the remaining microspheres will take over for the 49 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: used ones. Eventually, though, all the blobs of glue will 50 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: either be used up or become so blocked by dirt 51 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: and dust that the note just won't stick anymore. Luckily, 52 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: you probably have a pad of a few hundred more 53 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 1: to keep you going. Silver knew his glue wouldn't work 54 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: for building airplanes, but he still thought it had to 55 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: be useful for something. For the next several years, the 56 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: chemists sang the praises of microspheres and even gave an 57 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: entire present take on them at a company seminar, But 58 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: none of his colleagues at three M saw much merit 59 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: in the idea, so the micro spheres went on the 60 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: shelf and Silver moved on to other projects. It wasn't 61 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,799 Speaker 1: until nineteen seventy four that a practical use for Silver's 62 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: invention was discovered. It happened by chance when another three 63 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:24,600 Speaker 1: M employee named Art Fry was looking for an efficient 64 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: way to mark pages in his hymn book. Fry went 65 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: to choir practice at his church every Wednesday evening, and 66 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: he would bookmark the songs for that week with pieces 67 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: of paper. However, by Sunday morning, all the slips would 68 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: have inevitably fallen out. He considered using strips of tape, 69 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,479 Speaker 1: but removing them would have damaged the pages. Fry recalled 70 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:50,839 Speaker 1: that readhering glue was something Silver had talked about years earlier, 71 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: so he asked if he could have some to use 72 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: for bookmarks. Silver obliged, and after Fry applied the glue 73 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,760 Speaker 1: to the edges of some scraps of yellow pap his 74 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: hymnal troubles were over. Fry was so taken with the 75 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:08,360 Speaker 1: glue that he made more bookmarks and began using them 76 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: to leave notes on files at work. Eventually, his coworkers 77 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,480 Speaker 1: started asking for bookmarks to use in their own offices. 78 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: Fry whipped up a batch, and pretty soon the staff 79 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 1: was writing messages on the bookmarks and leaving them around 80 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 1: the office. It was then that Fry realized they had 81 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: stumbled on something big. He later recounted the epiphany, saying, quote, 82 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,360 Speaker 1: I thought, what we have here isn't just a bookmark. 83 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: It's a whole new way to communicate now. It's worth 84 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: noting that although Silver and Fry claimed to be the 85 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 1: co inventors of the post it note, and three M 86 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: backs up their claim, another inventor named Alan Amron, says 87 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 1: that he actually came up with the idea first. He 88 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:57,279 Speaker 1: sued three M, claiming that he had brought his press 89 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:01,480 Speaker 1: on sticky notes invention to the company back in seventy four. 90 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: Three M eventually settled the suit with a cash payment 91 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,480 Speaker 1: to Amron, but the company has continued to cite Silver 92 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: and Fry as the true inventors of the product. It's 93 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 1: unclear what exactly happened all those years ago, but it's 94 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: conceivable that Amron brought a similar product to three M 95 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: the same year that Fry and Silver developed their's. Three 96 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: M ultimately rejected Amron's idea, just as the company initially 97 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: did with Fry and Silver's. Eventually, though, three M gave 98 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: in and moved forward with the version of the product 99 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: that had been developed in house. Yet, even with a 100 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:42,159 Speaker 1: clear practical use in mind, three M wasn't convinced that 101 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,840 Speaker 1: a sticky stack of paper would actually sell. It took 102 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 1: several more years of back and forth, but finally, in 103 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven, the company agreed to test market Silver 104 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: and Fry's product in four US cities under the name 105 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:03,200 Speaker 1: Pressing Peel Notes. Unfortunately, that campaign fell flat. Hardly anyone 106 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: bought the product, and three M quietly pulled it from 107 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: shelves in early The disappointing sales seemed to reinforce management's 108 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: view that sticky notes were not a winning idea, but 109 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 1: by that point much of three m's workforce were firm 110 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,800 Speaker 1: believers in the product. After all, they'd used it themselves 111 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: for years. This support was enough to convince the company 112 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: to give it one last try, so in nine three 113 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: M rebranded the product as post it notes and launched 114 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: a plan known internally as the Boise Blitz. They sent 115 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: large numbers of free samples to offices throughout the metro 116 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 1: area of Boise, Idaho, and then waited to see how 117 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: many companies were willing to pay for additional units. Two 118 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 1: three M shock, more than nine cent of the company's 119 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: given samples reordered the product. The results spoke for themselves. 120 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: Saw On April six, three M released post it notes nationwide. 121 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: The following year, distribution was expanded to Canada in Europe, 122 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: and later to just about everywhere in the world. In 123 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 1: an increasingly digital world, post it notes still hold their 124 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: own on bulletin boards, files, computers, desks, doors, art installations, 125 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: and probably even some church hymnals talk about staying power. 126 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lousier and hopefully you now know a little 127 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. You can 128 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,800 Speaker 1: learn even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, 129 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:43,240 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d i HC Show, and if 130 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: you have any comments or suggestions, you can send them 131 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 1: my way at this Day at iHeart media dot com. 132 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank 133 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 134 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: for another Day in History. Class se