⌛🪶 Why are Post-It notes yellow?
Hello Friends,
Welcome to a new story of Human Work History!
Today’s article is of not one but two stories about the invention of post-it notes. The history of this popular product has got fun, drama, inspiration, and a lot to learn!
Adhesive 101
To understand the history of post-it notes, let’s have a very quick 2-minute understanding of how the adhesives in post-it note work. Don’t worry, I won’t make it very long.
Of the several types of adhesives, the ones used in the post-it notes fall in the category of “Pressure Sensitive adhesives”. Such adhesives form a bond when pressure is applied to bond the adhesive with a surface.
How it works?
There are two sets of forces: Adhesive force — among different surfaces, like water and glass and cohesive forces — among molecules of the same substance. A right balance is needed for the adhesive to work.
Pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSA) work by achieving the correct balance between flow and resistance to flow.
The bond forms because the adhesive is soft enough to flow, or wet, the adherend — the surface to which an adhesive adheres (result of good adhesive force). The bond has strength because the adhesive is hard enough to resist flow when stress is applied to the bond (result of good cohesive force).
No solvent, water, or heat is needed to activate the adhesive. Also, such adhesives do not undergo any chemical reaction with the surfaces.
So what about Post-it Notes?
The PSAs used in post-it note works using a “microspheres adhesive technology”. Here instead of forming a continuous film of adhesive, the microspheres reduce the number of contact points which allows easy removal without leaving residue.
The presence of a large number of microspheres helps in re-pasting several times.
Enough Theory! Time for stories!
So now let’s learn how this beautiful microsphere technology came into existence.
Story 1
Spencer Silver, (a employee at 3M) was working on making super-strong adhesive. Of various chemical combinations he had created (some completely useless, and some similar to regular adhesives), one particular combination had microspheres, which turned out to be a low tack, reusable pressure-sensitive adhesive. But wait, it was not all instant success and fame from here.
For full five years Spencer promoted this adhesive, basically as a solution to “some” problem. He ran lots of seminars and did internal promotions at 3M, but no “use” was found for this adhesive. Inside 3M he was also given the tag of “Mr. Persistent” for his do-not-give-up attitude.
Then in 1974, one of the attendees of his seminar, Arthur Fry was facing… one problem!
While practicing with his church choir, he would use little scraps of paper to mark the hymns they were going to sing in the upcoming service. By Sunday, he’d find that they’d all fallen out of the hymnal.
He needed a bookmark that would stick to the paper without damaging the pages.
Fry then worked with Spencer’s adhesive to develop a product that came to be known as the “Press 'n Peel" bookmark.
3M test marketed this product in 1977 in four stores and failed!
Next year, 3M gave free samples of the product with 94% of people expressing intent to purchase. 3M then changed the name to “Post-Its” and relaunched it 2 years later in 1979. This time it was readily accepted!
Why yellow?
Why is the sticky note yellow? Well, it was a pure accident. The color of the scrap paper used by the lab next door to the Post-It team was yellow!
Here comes a twist…
Story 2
Alan Amron claimed to be the original inventor of the Post-it note, in 1974. His story was that he took chewing gum, mixed it with dust, and then used it to stick a note on the refrigerator for her wife. When his wife came home, it was still intact, and upon removal, it didn’t leave any residue. This incident happened in 1973.
Working with a local aerosol company he built upon this idea and developed “Stick-Em Up sticky glue” and started selling in 1974. He further used that glue to make “Press on Memo sticky notes” and gave free samples to 3M.
Lawsuits
Alan filed a suit against 3M in 1988 which was settled with 3M paying Alan an undisclosed amount. A part of an agreement said that 3M would not claim to be the inventor of the Post-It note.
But… in 2016, Alan filed another suit on 3M for not following the agreement terms. The suit was dismissed, upholding the previous 1998 settlement.
However, in July 2016 a former 3M marketing department employee, Daniel Dassow, admitted that in 1974 Alan Amron had indeed disclosed his Press-on memo sticky notes invention to 3M.
So what do you think about who invented the Post-it note? Let me know your thoughts.
Important Learnings
So what are some important learnings from this story?
Awareness: If you are working on solving a big problem, you may end up with “something” that could be a solution to some other problem. Just like how Spencer ended up with a weak adhesive while looking for a super strong adhesive. Be aware of this.
Product naming: When it comes to marketing, many times name of a product can decide if it will be perceived well or not. 3M’s “Press n Peel bookmark” failed but “Post its note” succeeded.
Documentation: Document your work well in advance before sharing it with a big firm or even an individual. Patents are one of the solutions, but there are many other ways as well.
That's all, friends!
That’s all for this story! Please let me know your feedback on the content for improvement as I will be coming up with new stories every week.
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Thanks. Bye!
Arjit