Arthur Fry | |
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 Fry with a Post-it Note on his forehead | |
| Born | August 19, 1931 Owatonna, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Known for | Post-it Note creation |
Arthur "Art" Fry (born August 19, 1931) [1] is an American inventor and scientist. He is credited as the co-creator of the Post-it Note (though this is disputed by some), an item of office stationery manufactured by 3M. As of 2006, Post-it products are sold in more than 100 countries.
Fry was born in Owatonna, Minnesota [2] and subsequently lived in Iowa and Kansas City, Missouri. He received his early education in a one-room rural schoolhouse. In 1953, while still enrolled in undergraduate school, Fry took a job at 3M (then called Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) as a new product development researcher. He worked in new product development throughout his career at 3M until his retirement in the early 1990s.
Fry earned a BS in chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota in 1955.
The item for which he is best known was created in 1974. That year, Fry attended a seminar which was given by another 3M scientist, Spencer Silver, on a unique adhesive Silver had developed in 1969. Silver's innovation had an unusual molecular structure, yielding an adhesive strong enough to cling to objects but weak enough to allow for a temporary bond. At the time, Silver was still searching for a marketable use for his invention.
As the legend goes, Fry was at church when he came up with the perfect application. Fry sang in his church choir, and he used slips of paper to mark the pages of his workbook. When the book was opened, however, the makeshift bookmarks often moved around or fell out altogether. It occurred to him that Silver's adhesive could be put to use to create a better bookmark. If it could be coated on paper, Silver's adhesive would hold a bookmark in place without damaging the page on which it was placed.
The next day, Fry requested a sample of the adhesive. He began experimenting, coating only one edge of the paper so that the portion extending from a book would not be sticky. Fry experimented with writing notes to his boss, which broadened his original concept into the innovative Post-it Note product.
It took a few years for the concept to come to fruition, due to both technical problems with production and management's doubts about the product's saleability. Post-it Notes were released to the national market in 1980. In 1981, 3M named Post-it Notes its Outstanding New Product. In 1980 and 1981, the Post-it Note team received 3M's Golden Step Award, given to teams who create major new products that are significantly profitable. 3M named Fry a corporate researcher in 1986. He is also a member of 3M's Carlton Society and Circle of Technical Excellence.
Fry currently resides in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He was mentioned in the 1997 film Romy and Michele's High School Reunion as the true inventor of Post-its. [3]
In 2003 the Post-it Note played a central role in a new play titled Inside a Bigger Box that premiered in New York at the 78th Street Theatre Lab (written by Trish Harnetiaux and directed by Jude Domski). In conjunction with the show Harnetiaux, Domski and the artist non-profit NurtureART curated an International Post-it Note Art exhibit and a panel discussion took place with various artists. Post-it Note inventor Arthur Fry participated in the panel which was curated by current MOMA head of design Paola Anton.
During the summer of 2004, Fry acted as a judge for eCybermission, an Army-sponsored Math and Science competition.
In 2008 Post-it helped sponsor a drama series in Taiwan, Fated to Love You , a romantic comedy about a hard-working young woman who would complete any task left to her on a Post-it. The drama constantly features Post-it Notes in the storyline, and in episode 9 the lead male character cited Art Fry as the creator of Post-it Notes as well as the success the product had for 3M.
In 2010, Art Fry was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. [2]
Inventor Alan Amron claimed to have disclosed the technology used in the Post-it Note to 3M in 1974. [4] [5] His 1997 suit against 3M was settled and 3M paid Amron. [4] As part of the settlement, Amron undertook not to make future claims against the company except if ever a breach of the settlement agreement should occur. [4] However, in 2016, he launched a further suit against 3M, [4] [5] asserting that 3M were wrongly claiming to be the inventors, and seeking $400 million in damages. [6] At a preliminary hearing, a federal judge ordered the parties to undergo mediation. [7]
Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation.
Blu Tack is a reusable putty-like pressure-sensitive adhesive produced by Bostik, commonly used to attach lightweight objects to walls, doors or other dry surfaces. Traditionally blue, it is also available in other colours. Generic versions of the product are also available from other manufacturers. The spelling now used is without a hyphen.
Duct tape is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. There are a variety of constructions using different backings and adhesives, and the term "duct tape" has been genericized to refer to different cloth tapes with differing purposes. A variation is heat-resistant foil tape useful for sealing heating and cooling ducts, produced because the adhesive on standard duct tape fails and the synthetic fabric reinforcement mesh deteriorates when used on heating ducts.
A paper clip is a tool used to hold sheets of paper together, usually made of steel wire bent to a looped shape. Most paper clips are variations of the Gem type introduced in the 1890s or earlier, characterized by the one and a half loops made by the wire. Common to paper clips proper is their utilization of torsion and elasticity in the wire, and friction between wire and paper. When a moderate number of sheets are inserted between the two "tongues" of the clip, the tongues will be forced apart and cause torsion in the bend of the wire to grip the sheets together. They are usually used to bind papers together for productivity and portability.
Corrugated fiberboard, corrugated cardboard, or corrugated is a type of packaging material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards. It is made on "flute lamination machines" or "corrugators" and is used for making corrugated boxes. The corrugated medium sheet and the linerboard(s) are made of kraft containerboard, a paperboard material usually over 0.25 millimetres (0.01 in) thick.
Romy and Michele's High School Reunion is a 1997 American comedy film directed by David Mirkin and starring Mira Sorvino, Lisa Kudrow, and Janeane Garofalo. The plot revolves around two 28-year-old women who appear to have not achieved much success in life, and decide to invent fake careers to impress former classmates at their ten-year high school reunion. The characters are taken from the stage play Ladies Room, which also featured Kudrow.
Charles Goodyear was an American self-taught chemist and manufacturing engineer who developed vulcanized rubber, for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844.
Richard Gurley Drew was an American inventor who worked for Johnson and Johnson, Permacel Co., and 3M in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he invented masking tape and cellophane tape.
A Post-it note is a small piece of paper with a re-adherable strip of glue on its back, made for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. A low-tack pressure-sensitive adhesive allows the notes to be easily attached, removed and even re-posted elsewhere without leaving residue. The Post-it's signature adhesive was discovered accidentally by a scientist at 3M. Originally small yellow squares, Post-it Notes and related products are available in various colors, shapes, sizes and adhesive strengths. As of 2024, there are at least 28 documented colors of Post-it notes. 3M's Post-it has won several awards for its design and innovation.
An adhesive label or sticky label is a small piece of paper designed to be affixed to any surface, typically by the action of removing a layer of adhesive on the front or back of the label. The term adhesive refers to a sticky substance, while something that is self-adhesive implies that it will stick without wetting or the application of glue to the product.
Scotch Tape is a brand name used for pressure-sensitive tapes developed by 3M. It was first introduced by Richard Drew, who created the initial masking tape under the Scotch brand. The invention of Scotch-brand cellulose tape expanded its applications, making it suitable for sealing packages and conducting item repairs. Over time, Scotch Tape has been utilized in various industries and households for its diverse adhesive solutions.
Avery Dennison Corporation is a multinational manufacturer and distributor of pressure-sensitive adhesive materials, apparel branding labels and tags, RFID inlays, and specialty medical products. The company is a member of the Fortune 500 and is headquartered in Mentor, Ohio.
A tape dispenser is an object that holds a roll of tape and has a mechanism at one end to shear the tape. Dispensers vary widely based on the tape they dispense. Abundant and most common, clear tape dispensers are commonly made of plastic, and may be disposable. Other dispensers are stationary and may have sophisticated features to control tape usage and improve ergonomics.
Spencer Ferguson Silver III was an American chemist and inventor who specialized in adhesives. 3M credits him with having devised the adhesive that Arthur Fry used to create Post-it Notes.
3M Company is an American multinational conglomerate operating in the fields of industry, worker safety, and consumer goods. The company produces over 60,000 products under several brands, including adhesives, abrasives, laminates, passive fire protection, personal protective equipment, window films, paint protection film, electrical, electronic connecting, insulating materials, car-care products, electronic circuits, and optical films. It is based in Maplewood, a suburb of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Jeff Chiba Stearns is a Canadian independent animation and documentary filmmaker who works in traditional and computer-based techniques.
The John Dwan Office Building, located at 201 Waterfront Drive in Two Harbors, Minnesota, in the United States, is a historical building and now a museum for 3M.
Deinking is the industrial process of removing printing ink from paperfibers of recycled paper to make deinked pulp.
Joseph Neng Shun Kwong was a chemical engineer, most famous for his role in the development of the Redlich–Kwong equation of state.
Alan Amron is an American inventor who holds 40 United States patents. Amron invented the Photo Wallet and Battery operated water guns.
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