How Scotch Tape Got Its Name Despite Being Invented in Minnesota

Simon Whistler of Today I Found Out explored the origins of Scotch tape in a Fact Quickie clip, noting that it was invented in Minnesota, not Scotland.

It was invented by a college dropout named Richard Drew from Minnesota, who worked for a small sandpaper company founded in 1902 called Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, later known as 3M.

Drew, a St. Paul native who left the University of Minnesota after one year, invented masking tape in 1925 and Scotch Brand Cellulose Tape in 1930, and he held more than 30 US patents by the time he retired from 3M in 1962.

Whistler also shared two versions of the derogatory story behind the tape’s odd name.

One version of the story claims that the painter asked, “Why so Scotch with the adhesive?” Another version states that the painter said, “Take this back to your Scotch bosses and tell them to put more adhesive on it.” Whatever the case, in the 1920s, the term Scotch was a racial slang that meant something or someone that was cheap or stingy. Based on the feedback, Drew applied more adhesive to the tape and ultimately branded the tape with the pejorative stingy name of Scotch.

In another Fact Quickie, Whistler laid out how Area 51 likely got its name.

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