WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
TALE OF THE TAPE
Profile America — Tuesday, January 31st. Richard Drew of the 3M Company was working on another problem when he ended up inventing one of the world's most practical items. He noted that workers painting two-tone cars were having trouble keeping the colors separated along a straight line, so he developed an easy-to-peel, glue-backed masking tape to ease the job. Then, Drew expanded the use of the tape by introducing a clear, cellophane backing. The result was Scotch Tape, introduced on this date in 1930, and found today under many names in nearly every home and office across the country. Such items are among the many articles stocked in the nation's 6,800 office supply and stationery stores, which sell around $16 billion worth of merchandise annually. You can find current data on the country's economy by downloading the 'America's Economy' mobile application at www.census.gov/mobile.
Sources:
Anniversary/accessed 11/9/2016: http://www.historyandheadlines.com/3m-introduces-scotch-tape/
Richard Drew/accessed 11/9/2016:
http://invent.org/inductee-detail/?IID=329
Office supply stores/County Business Patterns/NAICS 453210: http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/BP/2013/00A1//naics~45321
Sales/NAICS 45321:
http://www2.census.gov/retail/releases/current/arts/sales.xls
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu).
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau
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