Duct Tape - The Proud Sponsor of Today's Laugh

Today's laugh - Tonight I was sitting on the couch in the family room when the air came on.  There is a rattle in the duct right there and our air seems to not be working as well as it should (might have something to do with the fact that it was our first 110 degree day of the season today). Anyway, I began wondering if there was an easy way to check the ducts and see if they had a leak. I envisioned the youngest son crawling  through the attic checking out the ducts and thought, "Can you tape ducts and what kind of tape do you think you would use?'

I had to laugh when the word "duct tape" eventually popped into my head.

Duh. I wonder if that was what duct tape was originally invented for* way back before we decided to use it to make wallets and neckties and prom suits and scripture bags?

Hey!  Maybe that's why it was first only available in  silver - to match the ducts.  That makes so much sense to me now.

*So, if you know anything about me, you know that I had to research this and figure out who invented duct tape and why.

What is your guess?

You can find a more detailed answer here  or here, but the short answer is that duct tape was invented in 1942 by the Johnson and Johnson Permacel Division.   It was originally unnamed, but was frequently called duck tape because it was waterproof and make from cotton duck.  It was first used by the military to keep moisture out of the ammunition cases and its original color was not silver, but army green. From the very beginning the versatility of this tape has been appreciated and military personnel used it to fix just about everything including guns, jeeps and aircraft.  Perhaps we owe the successful end of World War II to duck tape and not to the atomic bomb.

After the war there was a major housing boom and a new use for the tape emerged. The name was changed to duct tape and the color changed to silver so it would match the heating duct work that it was used to connect.

Today I am grateful for

a son who motivated me to work on cleaning my dining room today.  He is really good at clapping his hands and saying, "Good Job!"

the ability to let go of some unnecessary items that have been living in boxes in my dining room for way too long,  Notice I said some, not all.  This is still definitely a work in progress, but I am getting better.

sloppy joes - they tasted really good to me tonight and they made me think of my sister whom I am also very thankful for.