Duct or Duck? Time to Choose.
Category: Products
Posted: 3/17/2010 4:14:00 PM
It’s a timeless question I hear almost daily…is it Duct or Duck? It’s time to set the record straight.
At first a nameless product, “Duck” tape was the original term used to describe the tape that was invented during World War II by Permacel, a division of Johnson & Johnson. The war effort 
required a tape that was durable, waterproof, strong and could easily be torn. Inventors used medical bandaging tape as the basis, generating a solution that was army green in color and nicknamed “duck” tape because of its ability to repel water (like water off a duck’s back).
After the war, the tape was changed to its well-known gray color and put to work holding heating and cooling ducts together…thus officially giving it the “duct” tape name (though ductwork is not a suggested use for the product today).
Thirty years after the invention of duct tape, Jack Kahl, former CEO of Manco, Inc., created the Duck® brand of duct tape by renaming the product Duck Tape® and adding Manco T. Duck (now Trust E. Duck) as the mascot and logo for the brand. Through the years, working in partnership with Shurtape, the product has evolved from its traditional gray color to include more than 20 colors of Duck Tape® brand duct tape, including bright colors and patterns.
Today, duct tape has thousands – if not millions – of uses. It’s a fix-it, create-it product with a cult-like following. We receive stories and uses daily from the people we call duct tape enthusiasts. Here are a couple of my favorite “did you know” duct tape fun facts:
• Years ago, we celebrated the 60th anniversary of this patriotic product by unveiling an American flag made completely with red, white and blue DuckTape®. The size of a professional basketball court, the flag required 1,120 rolls of Duck Tape® (220 rolls of blue, 420 rolls of red, 380 rolls of white for the stripes and 100 rolls of white for the stars).
• In 2001, a couple vowed to “stick together” with a duct tape wedding ceremony. The festivities included Duck Tape® wedding attire, accessories and decorations. Everything from the cummerbunds to the bouquets to the centerpieces was made from Duck Tape®. The bride’s gown, made by designer Brian McKinney, was made almost entirely from white Duck Tape® and was accented with more than 600 Bavarian crystals.
• Duck Tape® is a secret that’s been used in the fashion industry for years. We took it to the runway! We partnered with both Parsons School of Design (New York, N.Y.) and Ryerson’s School of Fashion (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) to work with student designers to create fashionable Duck Tape® duds for the catwalk.
Are you a duct (or Duck) tape enthusiast? We want to know…