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Post-it Notes grew from a weak, reusable glue that 3M chemist Spencer Silver made by accident in 1968 while trying to create a very strong one.

3M / USPTO

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The story behind the card

For years Silver's glue was a solution looking for a problem. In 1974 his colleague Art Fry, who sang in a church choir, wanted a bookmark that would stay in his hymn book without damaging the pages, and realised the glue could make notes that stick and peel off again. A 1977 test launch in four cities under the name Press 'n Peel sold poorly. In 1978 3M handed out free samples to offices in Boise, Idaho, and more than 90% of people who tried them said they would buy them. Post-it Notes went on sale across the United States in 1980, and in Canada and Europe in 1981. The famous canary yellow was chosen by chance: the lab next door had yellow scrap paper.

Türkçe oku
Post-it notlar bir kazadan doğdu: 3M'in kimyageri Spencer Silver 1968'de çok güçlü bir yapıştırıcı ararken, tam tersine zayıf ama tekrar tekrar yapışabilen bir yapıştırıcı buldu.

Silver'ın yapıştırıcısı yıllarca ne işe yarayacağı bilinmeden bekledi. 1974'te kilise korosunda şarkı söyleyen iş arkadaşı Art Fry, ilahi kitabından düşmeyen ve sayfalara zarar vermeyen bir ayraç arıyordu; bu yapıştırıcıyla yapışıp yeniden sökülebilen notlar yapılabileceğini fark etti. Ürün 1977'de dört kentte Press 'n Peel adıyla denendi ama pek satmadı. 1978'de 3M, Idaho eyaletinin Boise kentindeki bürolara ücretsiz örnekler dağıttı; deneyenlerin %90'ından fazlası satın alacağını söyledi. Post-it notlar 1980'de ABD'nin her yerinde, 1981'de de Kanada ve Avrupa'da satışa çıktı. Bilinen kanarya sarısı renk ise tesadüfen seçildi: Yan laboratuvarda yalnızca sarı müsvedde kâğıdı vardı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Post-it note
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