How was cello tape invented?

Like most inventions, cellotape is actually a development. In 1845, British surgeon Dr. Horace Day started using a rudimentary version of the adhesive bandage for his patients. Both Adhesives and bandages existed long before that. But nobody had thought of putting the two together before the innovative doctor, so we can credit him as an inventor. But cellulose tape was made by someone else much later, and that is the story we want to know. 

Who invented cello tape?  
Richard Drew of the American company 3M invented masking tape in 1925. 3M stands for Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, but the company was a flop at mining, so it went towards making stationary. This happy accident has given us probably the biggest stationary manufacturer ever. Drew had noticed a problem with painting cars in two colours. One shade bled onto the other, creating an untidy border. So Drew invented the first masking tape, a two-inch-wide tan paper strip coated at the back with light, pressure-sensitive adhesive. But he had coated the sides and not the middle, so the tape fell off when he tried it out. The painter was obviously irritated and told him to peel the tape off and take it back to his ‘Scotch boss’. Scots are infamous for stinginess, and that’s what the painter was referring to. Drew improved the stickiness, but retained the name ‘Scotch Tape’.  

He didn’t stop there. He continued experimenting with tape material, till he hit upon sticky cellophane in 1930. And this is what we call cello tape today. In 1937, a British company produced Sellotape, the sticky, transparent strip that can be cut off by the cutter attached to the stand. This is so enormously popular till date that many spell the word as Sellotape.  

Why was cello tape such a big hit?    
Scotch tape was invented at the beginning of the Great Depression of the 1930’s. American economy was badly hit and people had little money to buy new things. So the adhesive tape sold very, very well, with consumers using it for repairing everything from books to windows. And Sellotape came just before World War 2, when it became extremely popular as stationary for packing.