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Post-it Notes

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Color image of an early version of a Post-it Note, 1986.

An early version of a Post-it Note, 1986.

Introduced to the public in 1980, the Post-it Note has become one of the Minnesota-based 3M Company’s most successful products.

In 1968, Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M’s headquarters in Maplewood, was working to create a strong adhesive. Accidentally, he developed a new material that was light enough to easily remove and peel apart. Silver felt that he had invented something unique and useful but struggled to find what that use could be. He spent five years meeting with others at 3M, trying to find someone who could recognize the unique capabilities of his invention and create a new product with it.

At this time, Art Fry, another 3M employee, was frustrated when his scrap-paper bookmarks fell out of the hymnal he used while singing in his church choir. As he was thinking of ways to make a better bookmark, Silver’s “not-so-sticky” adhesive came to mind as a way to make pieces of paper slightly sticky without adhering permanently.

Fry realized that the sticky papers would work better as notes, and the product idea was solidified. Henry Courtney and Roger Merrill—two other members of the research team—found a way to make the adhesive attach to one piece of paper. Their changes allowed the note to stick to, and be removed from, other paper and objects. The product was originally called Press n’ Peel.

After mixed success in market tests in several major cities, 3M almost decided to stop producing the Post-it Note. In a final effort to test the product’s potential, marketers decided to give it directly to consumers in Boise, Idaho. They wanted to see if giving consumers free samples would increase sales. This marketing test became known as the Boise Blitz and was wildly successful. About 90 percent of people who tried the product said they would buy it.

In 1980, the Post-it Note was made available to customers in U.S. stores. It became hugely popular. The Post-it Note team was awarded the internal 3M Golden Step Award in 1981 and 1982 for their development of a profitable product that generated significant new sales. In 1981, they were also awarded 3M’s Outstanding New Product Award.

Since their debut in 1980, Post-it Notes have become an office staple and entered pop culture. In 2000, they were available in twenty-seven sizes, eighteen colors, and twenty fragrances, and could be used in a variety of dispensers. In 1991, Minnesota Twins fans wrote Post-it notes of encouragement that contributed to a large mural in support of the team in the World Series. Post-its have also been used to create works of art, and have been featured in museums like the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (MoMA). MoMA’s 2004 exhibit “Humble Masterpieces” displayed an example of the product from the museum’s permanent collection.

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The 106 Group Ltd., et al. “3M Main Plant Campus Reuse Study.” July 2009.
Originally found at: http://sppa.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/3m-reuse-study-7-31-09.pdf

3M. A Century of Innovation: The 3M Story. St. Paul: 3M, 2002.
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/171240O/3m-coi-book-tif.pdf

Fry, Art, and Spencer Silver. “First Person: ‘We Invented the Post-it Note’.” Financial Times. December 3, 2010.
https://www.ft.com/content/f08e8a9a-fcd7-11df-ae2d-00144feab49a#axzz18hyDnyKX

Green, Penelope. “Post-it: The All-purpose Note That Stuck.” New York Times, July 7, 2007.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/arts/29iht-postit.1.6413576.html

Gundling, Ernest. The 3M Way to Innovation: Balancing People and Profit. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2000.

Nayak, P. Ranganath, and John M. Ketteringham. Breakthroughs! New York: Rawson Associates, 1986.

Post-it Brand. History Timeline: Post-it Note Notes.
http://www.post-it.com/3M/en_US/post-it/contact-us/about-us/

Sandomir, Richard. "Spencer Silver, an Inventor of Post-it Notes, is Dead at 80." New York Times, May 13, 2021.

Related Audio

MN90: The Product That Stuck Around | Details

Related Images

Color image of an early version of a Post-it Note, 1986.
Color image of an early version of a Post-it Note, 1986.
Black and white photograph of Arthur Fry inspecting his product, the Post-it Note, ca. 1980.
Black and white photograph of Arthur Fry inspecting his product, the Post-it Note, ca. 1980.
Color image of the 3M Post-it Note fan board for the World Series, 1991.
Color image of the 3M Post-it Note fan board for the World Series, 1991.

Turning Point

In 1973, Art Fry has an idea to use Spencer Silver's unique adhesive to create a sticky scrap paper.

Chronology

1968

Spencer Silver develops an adhesive that is removable and re-attachable but struggles to find an immediate use for it.

1973

Art Fry, another 3M employee, thinks of a use for the adhesive after frustration with his scrap-paper bookmarks falling out of his hymnal while singing in church choir.

1977

3M starts preliminary market tests of Post-its in several major cities.

1978

3M conducts a large scale marketing test of Post-its in Boise, Idaho, known now as the Boise Blitz.

1980

Post-its are introduced on the national consumer market.

1981

3M presents the Post-it Note design and the team behind it with the Golden Step Award and the Outstanding New Product Award.

2000

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office registers a trademark for Post-its.