William Safire strikes again.
"The original name of the cloth-backed, waterproof adhesive product was duck tape, developed for the United States Army by the Permacel division of Johnson & Johnson to keep moisture out of ammunition cases. The earliest civilian use I can find is in an advertisement by Gimbels department store in June 1942 (antedating the O.E.D. entry by three decades -- nobody but nobody beats this column), which substitutes our product for the ''ladder tape'' that usually holds together Venetian blinds. For $2.99, Gimbels -- now defunct -- would provide blinds ''in cream with cream tape or in white with duck tape.''"
This is a fabulous exposition of the etymology of duct/duck tape. I am also pleased to see a reference to the beloved Gimbel's, now long gone.
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June 2008
Ephemera
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This page contains a single entry by tim published on March 16, 2003 9:07 PM.
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entymology of duct or duck tape
surely you mean ETYMOLOGY !!!
Etymology, you are so right. I fixed my mistake.