Product type Stationery, paper Website 3m.com | Owner 3M | |
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Country Cynthiana, Kentucky, U.S. Introduced 1977; 40 years ago (1977) | ||
A Post-It note (or sticky note) is a small piece of paper with a re-adherable strip of glue on its back, made for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. A unique low-tack pressure-sensitive adhesive allows the notes to be easily attached, removed and even re-posted elsewhere without leaving residue. Originally small yellow squares, Post-It Notes and related products are now available in an array of colors, shapes and sizes.
Contents
Although 3M's patent ran out in 1997, "Post-It" and the original notes' distinctive yellow color remain registered company trademarks, with terms such as "repositionable notes" used for similar offerings manufactured by competitors. Despite this, the name has become genericized for all such products in many countries.
History
In 1968, a scientist at 3M in the United States, Dr. Spencer Silver, was attempting to develop a super-strong adhesive. Instead he accidentally created a "low-tack", reusable, pressure-sensitive adhesive. For five years, Silver promoted his "solution without a problem" within 3M both informally and through seminars but failed to gain acceptance. In 1974 a colleague who had attended one of his seminars, Art Fry, came up with the idea of using the adhesive to anchor his bookmark in his hymnbook. Fry then utilized 3M's officially sanctioned "permitted bootlegging" policy to develop the idea. The original notes' yellow color was chosen by accident, as the lab next-door to the Post-It team had only yellow scrap paper to use.
3M launched the product as "Press 'n Peel" in stores in four cities in 1977, but results were disappointing. A year later 3M instead issued free samples directly to consumers in Boise, Idaho, with 94 percent of those who tried them indicating they would buy the product. The product was sold as "Post-Its" in 1979 when the rollout introduction began, and was sold across the United States from April 6, 1980. The following year they were launched in Canada and Europe.
In 2003, the company came out with "Post-It Brand Super Sticky Notes", with a stronger glue that adheres better to vertical and non-smooth surfaces.
Until 3M's patent expired in the 1990s, Post-It type notes were produced only in the company's plant in Cynthiana, Kentucky.
Competing claims
Inventor Alan Amron has made claims to be the inventor of the technology used on the Post-It note. His 1997 suit against 3M was settled in the light of an earlier invention by a Swiss inventor. As part of the settlement, Amron undertook not to make future claims against the company. However, in 2016, he launched a further suit against 3M, asserting that 3M were wrongly claiming to be the inventors, and seeking $400 million in damages. At a preliminary hearing, a federal judge ordered the parties to undergo mediation. The suit was subsequently dismissed.
In art
"The Yellow Stickee Diary of a Mad Secretary", by Rosa Maria Arenas, is the mini graphic journal of an office worker/artist, exhibited July 7 - August 25, 2013, at the Michigan Institute of Contemporary Art (MICA) Gallery in Lansing, Michigan. The 41 drawings displayed are a tiny percentage of the more than 2000 original drawings that constitute the Yellow Stickee Diary Project which Arenas created while working temp jobs from 1994 to 2005. Printed with archival inks on archival paper, the reproductions include "stickee sized" (3" × 5") framed prints and enlargements of the original drawings (which were all done on Post-It Notes).
In 2012, Turkish artist Ardan Özmenoğlu was selected to have a solo exhibition at Bertrand Delacroix Gallery in the art district of Chelsea, Manhattan. The exhibition, titled "E Pluribus Unum" (Latin for "Out of many, one"), opened November 15, 2012 and featured large scale works on Post-It Notes.
In 2004, Paola Antonelli, a curator of architecture and design, included Post-It notes in a show entitled "Humble Masterpieces".
Rebecca Murtaugh, a California artist who uses Post-It notes in her artwork, in 2001 created an installation by covering her whole bedroom with $1000 worth of the notes, using the ordinary yellow for objects she saw as having less value and neon colors for more important objects, such as the bed.
In 2000, the 20th anniversary of Post-It notes was celebrated by having artists create artworks on the notes. One such work, by the artist R. B. Kitaj, sold for £640 in an auction, making it the most valuable Post-It note on record.
The Lennon Wall, a message board created during the 2014 Hong Kong protests from a stretch of curved staircase in the Central Government Complex, is covered in multi-coloured Post-It notes with handwritten messages from supporters.
Satiregram, a parody account on Instagram by Euzcil Castaneto, showcases handwritten messages on Post-It notes that describe typical pictures people would post on Instagram.
In technology
Virtual Post-It notes have been created for computer in the form of desktop notes. These include 3M's own "Post-It Brand Software Notes", "Stickies" in Mac OS, "Sticky Notes" in Windows, or other for-fee applications like ShixxNOTE. Virtual Post-It–like notes are also available online using Evernote, Google Keep or Microsoft OneNote.