Scotch Tape to the Rescue

by

When I was researching information for Holiday Home (book 3 in the Holiday Express series), I was looking up details from World War II during the holidays. The story takes place during 1944.

I happened upon a neat advertisement for Scotch™ Tape.

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to try to wrap a pile of Christmas gifts without Scotch tape? It almost makes me want to cry, because I love to wrap gifts and Scotch’s satin tape is my sticky substance of choice when it comes to holding the wrapping paper in place.

I had no idea  Scotch™tape was a thing way back then, and even less of a clue that it was used during the war.

Apparently,  Scotch™ tape was used in a myriad of ways during the war, from sealing boxes with blood plasma to “patching” equipment.

In the 1920s, Richard Drew, a young research assistant at 3M’s Minnesota headquarters, was working to develop an adhesive tape that would allow a precise two-tone paint job without mixing or bleeding colors. His prototype didn’t have enough stickiness to it, and he was told he was being “Scotch,” or stingy, with the adhesive. The name stuck.

By 1929, DuPont had developed transparent cellophane, and it was being used in all sorts of packaging. Producers wanted a tape that could match the vitreous appearance. After more trial and error, Drew and his team developed Scotch™ Brand Cellulose tape. I’m so glad they did!

I thought you might enjoy a little excerpt from the story:

 

Bryce could hear the woman and David speaking, but they sounded far away. His vision grew cloudy and he felt like he was being sucked underwater as the world around him began to darken and waver.

David grabbed his good arm and kept him from falling over. “Please, miss, my friend here is in bad shape. May we please have shelter for the night? I promise we’ll not cause any trouble.”

“How do I know you aren’t pretending to be injured?”

David frowned and pointed to the blood caked on Bryce’s leg. “Does this look fake to you?”

The woman sighed a second time and set the gun inside the door of her house. She motioned to them, flapping her hand forward. “Come on, but just so you know, I don’t have much to offer.”

“As long as you have clean water and a spot on the floor where we can rest, that’s all we ask,” Bryce said, aware his words sounded slurred.

“You better hurry before he faints,” she said, reaching out to help Bryce over the threshold and into her home. He drew in a breath, inhaling a faint fragrance that smelled soft and feminine. Something about it reminded him of his grandmother, Cora Lee.

Three steps inside the door, his leg gave out on him and pain swept over him with such force, he crumpled to the floor. The last thing he remembered was looking into a pair of bright blue eyes framed with a halo of golden curls.

Perhaps the woman in the farmhouse was really an angel in disguise.

In case you missed it, Holiday Hope released November 30 and is on sale for 99 cents! Holiday Heart released December 7. Holiday Home just released yesterday, and Holiday Love will release December 21!

As a special Christmas gift, download your digital copy of Scent of Cedar FREE today!

A matchmaking camel and her meddling friends are determined to help their humans find love this holiday season.

Cedar Haynes has a choice: change her high-pressure lifestyle, or end up dead by the time she’s thirty. Not one to do things by half measures, she quits her demanding corporate job, swaps her sports car for an SUV, and moves to the peaceful mountain community of Faraday. She envisions a quiet, peaceful Christmas, surrounding by silence and sparkling snow. When a camel takes up residence on her porch, she realizes small-town life may be more quirky and complicated than she imagined. Thankfully, the local mechanic seems to have all the answers – plus good looks, bad-boy charm, and a mysterious aura that leaves her wanting to know more.

Rhett Riggs left big city life behind the moment his small-town uncle needed his help. To make ends meet, he takes over Faraday’s one and only garage and gas station. He gets more than he bargained for, though, when Uncle Will passes away, leaving Rhett a run-down farmhouse, a wacky camel named Lolly, and a deep-rooted love for the community he considers his home. With the holidays approaching, he watches with interest as a new neighbor moves in next door. He waits for Lolly to send the woman running, like she has the last handful of residents. Only this time, if his beautiful neighbor leaves, she’ll take his heart with her.

Between spilled secrets, mistaken identities, and a camel determined to spread a little love, it will take more than mistletoe and holiday magic to help Rhett and Cedar find their happy ending.

Come along on a sweet Christmas romance adventure sure to uplift the spirit, touch the heart, and imbue the warmth of the holiday season.

What about you?

Do you love to wrap gifts? Hate it? Use gift bags? Paper sacks?

How would you approach wrapping gifts if there wasn’t such a thing as tape available? 

 

Don’t forget to join us for a fun celebration of our favorite holiday traditions!

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After spending her formative years on a farm in Eastern Oregon, hopeless romantic Shanna Hatfield turns her rural experiences into sweet historical and contemporary romances filled with sarcasm, humor, and hunky western heroes.
When this USA Today bestselling author isn’t writing or covertly hiding decadent chocolate from the other occupants of her home, Shanna hangs out with her beloved husband, Captain Cavedweller.

40 thoughts on “Scotch Tape to the Rescue”

  2. I do a mixture of bags, cloth bags and using scotch tape. I love to wrap gifts and am always trying to come up with something fun and pretty. this is a very interesting post. I guess I never thought about scotch tape back then. Thanks for sharing.

  3. I hate the thought of trees being cut down to make wrapping p aper, so one year, I sewed drawstring gift bags out of beautiful Christmas fabric, with the thought that they could be used year after year. Unfortunately, none of my family liked the idea, so they were never used again. Now I’m back to using wrapping paper, and scotch tape, if the kids hadn’t used i t all! Before I retired, I was a nurse, and always had a roll of IV tape in my pocket. My family joked about how I didn’t have to put who the gift was from on the tag, as the IV tape sealing the package was a dead giveaway!

  4. I believe they used to wrap everything in butcher type paper and then hold it with string! LOL my SIL works for 3M and helped develop the “super” sticky post its!!

  5. Good morning, wow, I had no idea that they had scotch tape back then. I do both, I wrap gifts and I also put gifts in bags. I think I would use glue somehow if there was no scotch tape around, but scotch tape is a life saver especially while wrapping gifts. Have a great day and stay safe. I enjoyed your post and your books sound like Great reads.

  6. I like gift bags myself. But I have used diaper pins and strings for wrapping instead of tape. You just have to think out of the box. Thank you for sharing. Hugs

  7. I do gift bags!! I used to get one of my older sisters to wrap presents, because I don’t like to wrap and I’m not good at it. One year, I even put gifts in Publix re-usable shopping bags!

  8. So neat! I never thought about not having Scotch tape! So glad I didn’t have to live without it. Loved your Scent of Cedar book! Hope everyone downloads it. Such a fun book!!! I love when a book can make me laugh out loud.

  10. I love to wrap gifts, and 3M satin Scotch tape is a must. I use gift bags, too.

    Congratulations on your latest book release!

  13. I used to wrap and even try doing some creative, decorative bows. Didn’t always turn out like I planned! Eventually, I decided the easier gift bags were the way to go!

  14. I do enjoy wrapping gifts although I did a much better job of it when I was younger. I have used gift bags more frequently, but still like wrapping boxes with gift wrap. For some gifts I have used dish towels for the wrap when going to a bridal shower or a receiving blanket for a baby shower. For those gifts I use clips or baby pins. We have used brown grocery bags and butcher paper to wrap gifts. We stencil them or I let the kids draw on them. They enjoy it and it is so much more personal.

    My mom managed to use one piece of tape to wrap a gift. I have not figured that out and she is no longer here to tell me. If you taped the overlapping fold and folded the ends, you could keep the ends in place with the ribbon. I haven’t tried and rely on tape. I hadn’t thought of that in years and will have to try it this year to see how it works.

    • That is so neat about your mom wrapping a gift with one piece of tape. I would never be able to master that! So fun about using butcher paper or grocery bags and getting the kids involved in them. Love that!
      Have a Merry Christmas!

  15. I wrap gifts because I am the only one who would do it in the house. I am not sure what I would do without scotch tape. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you. Merry Christmas.

  16. I wrapped a few but mostly used gift bags this year because I am running behind on things. Christmas has slipped up on me again, so now I am rushing around trying to get things done.

  17. I prefer gift bags cause my wrapping skills stink. But i very much appreciate thoe with the gift, talent and skill to make them lovely. 😀

  18. Hello Shanna- I’ve been without electricity today so I’m just now seeing this. I love Holiday Home, plus all in this series. Scotch tape is a must, I can’t imagine life without it. Thank you for sharing the history of tape. Have a great day, love you dearly.

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