Short answer
Who invented Post-it Notes? Two scientists at 3M. In 1968, the chemist Spencer Silver created an adhesive that held paper lightly and peeled off cleanly. For years it had no use, until his colleague Art Fry saw it could make bookmarks that would not fall out of his choir hymnal. Post-it Notes went on sale nationally in 1980.
Key takeaways
- In 1968, Spencer Silver, a chemist at 3M, created an adhesive that stuck lightly and could be peeled off and reused, but nobody knew what to do with it.
- Art Fry, another 3M scientist, found the use: his paper bookmarks kept falling out of his church choir hymnal.
- The first market tests, in 1977, used the name “Press ‘n Peel”.
- A large marketing test in Boise, Idaho, in 1978, known as the “Boise Blitz”, found that about 90 percent of people who tried it would buy it.
- Post-it Notes went on sale nationally in the United States on April 6, 1980.
Post-it Notes are often called an accident. The truth is more interesting: the glue was deliberate, the use was missing, and it took twelve years of persistence to turn one into the other.
A glue that failed
In 1968, Spencer Silver, a research chemist at 3M, produced something unusual: an adhesive made of tiny acrylic spheres that stuck to surfaces only lightly. It could hold papers together, then peel away cleanly and be reused.
It was a curious result. The problem was that nobody could say what it was for, and for several years it remained a solution without a problem.
The bookmark that kept falling out
The answer came from Art Fry, another 3M scientist, who sang in his church choir. He used slips of paper to mark the hymns in his hymnal, and they kept falling out. Around 1973 or 1974, depending on the account, he remembered Silver’s adhesive and realized that a bookmark coated with it would stay in place and still come off without damaging the page.
From bookmarks, the idea grew: if a piece of paper could stick lightly and come off cleanly, it could carry a note.
A slow start
In 1977, 3M began preliminary market tests in several cities under the name “Press ‘n Peel”. The product was new enough that people had to try it to see the point.
In 1978, 3M ran a much larger marketing test in Boise, Idaho, known as the “Boise Blitz”. It was a success: according to the Minnesota Historical Society, about 90 percent of the people who tried the product said they would buy it.
The launch
On April 6, 1980, 3M began selling Post-it Notes across the United States, in the canary yellow that became their signature. They soon became one of the best-known office products in the world. In 2010, Spencer Silver and Art Fry were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Who did what
| Who | When | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Spencer Silver | 1968 | The reusable, low-tack adhesive |
| Art Fry | Around 1973 to 1974 | The idea of using it on paper, starting with bookmarks |
| 3M | 1977 to 1978 | The “Press ‘n Peel” tests and the “Boise Blitz” |
| 3M | 1980 | National launch as Post-it Notes |
Accident or patience?
Post-it Notes appear on almost every list of accidental inventions, but the accident was only the first step. Silver made an adhesive that did not do what adhesives usually do, and it waited years for a purpose. Fry supplied the problem it solved. And the company still had to test it twice before launching it, because a product nobody had seen before only made sense once people tried it.
The microwave oven began with a different kind of accident, a melted candy bar near radar equipment. See Who Invented the Microwave?, or explore Inventions & Discoveries.
Frequently asked questions
Who invented Post-it Notes?
Spencer Silver, a 3M chemist, created the adhesive in 1968, and Art Fry, a 3M scientist, came up with the idea of using it on paper notes.
Were Post-it Notes invented by accident?
The adhesive was an unexpected result, but turning it into a product took years of deliberate work and testing.
What were Post-it Notes originally called?
They were test-marketed in 1977 as “Press ‘n Peel”.
When did Post-it Notes go on sale?
Nationally in the United States on April 6, 1980.