According to the National Inventors’ Hall of Fame, Richard Gurley Drew, invented masking tape in 1925 and cellophane tape in 1930 while he was working at the 3M Company in St. Paul Minnesota. During the Roaring 20’s he found auto painters were having trouble making a clean dividing line between the duo-toned paint jobs on the popular automobiles of the day.

According to the story, “The first tape had adhesive along its edges but not in the middle. In its first trial run, it fell off the car and a frustrated auto painter growled at Drew, “Take this tape back to those Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to put more adhesive on it! (By "Scotch," he meant"cheap".) The nickname stuck, both to Drew's improved masking tape, and to his 1930 invention, Scotch Brand cellulose clear tape.”

Today 3M is a leading manufacturer of tape and BlackHawk Industrial Supply is a leading supplier. We have some 36 specific categories of tape and almost 13,000 different tape products. One of the largest categories is Special Purpose Tape. Two of the more interesting finds in this category include:

• 3M 434 Low Temperature Vibration Damping Tape – This tape can adhere in low temperatures (-76 deg F) and is made for the aerospace industry.  

• 3M Electrically Cushion Gasket Tape, Conductive, Series - A double-sided tape with good electrical conductivity and excellent cushion/recovery properties. It’s used in aerospace, medical devices, automotive and consumer electronic devices.

If your needs in tape are a little less exotic, Blackhawk Industrial Supply also has:

• Adhesive Transfer Tape
• Aisle Marking Tape
• Automotive Tape
• Double Coated Tape
• Double-Sided Tape
• Drywall Tape
• Duct Tape
• Electrical Tape
• Electrically Conductive Tape
• Electroplating Tape
• Filament Tape
• Film Tape
• Foam Tape
• Foil Tape
• Glass Cloth Tape
• Hook and Loop Tape
• Label Protection Tape
• Lithographers Tape
• Masking Paper
• Masking Tape
• Packaging & Sealing Tape
• Pipe Sealant Tape
• Plumbing Insulation Tape
• Repulpable Tape
• Rug and Carpet Tape
• Sheathing Tape
• Specialty Tape
• Splicing Tape
• Squeak Reduction Tape
• Strapping Tape
• Vinyl Tape
• Water Activated Tape
• Water Contact Indicator Tape

Don’t worry, BlackHawk Industrial also has transparent office tape to help Santa wrap up all those Christmas gifts this year! So, whether you’re making rocket ships or shipping Aunt Helen’s Christmas gift to Pittsburgh, BlackHawkIndustrial Supply has you covered.

Please see all of our Tape Products.

Our trained professionals at BlackHawk Industrial are happy to help you with any of your Tape and Packaging questions.

We welcome you to contact us here:  https://www.bhid.com/ContactUs or call us TOLL FREE at (855) 610-1001.