From elementary school gold stars to decked-out Redbubble laptop cases, stickers are one of life’s trinkets that have been constant while growing up. It’s time to see just how long humans have attached themselves to stickers.
Like many things, stickers can actually be traced back to Ancient Egypt, with the first known stickers appearing between 3000 and 300 B.C. Market stall owners would use adhesive to stick product prices on stall walls. This was likely done with animal-based glue and papyrus.
However, sticker sticklers may not agree that these truly represent the modern sticker. Another contender for stickers’ invention is Rowland Hill, who invented an adhesive paper in 1839. This sticker would eventually become the first postage stamp. According to the United States Postal Service, prior to this creation letters would have to be taken to a Post Office, where a postmaster would note the package with its postage rate, based on the bulk of the letter and its intended distance. This would be noted in the upper right hand corner, and could be paid in advance, upon delivery or split between the sender and receiver.
Upon Hill’s invention, the United Kingdom began to implement the postage stamp, with the first stamps on sale in May 1840. The U.S. followed suit on Feb. 1, 1842, beginning in New York City and authorized by Congress five years later.
If a stamp still does not qualify as a sticker, despite adhesive and paper working in tandem, then people turn to R. Stanton Avery’s creation of the first self-adhesive sticker in 1935. Avery was an American inventor and he invented a machine to make self-adhesive labels using a motor from a washing machine and spare sewing machine parts. Avery founded the Avery Dennison Corporation, which still creates self-adhesive labels today.
Less than a decade later in 1942 the U.S. Office of Price Administration, or OPA, utilized stickers to help control gasoline usage. The OPA issued a variety of stickers to be stuck to a car’s windshield and indicated how much gas should be given. This was part of rationing for WWII, and most people were issued an “A” sticker, the sticker given to the general public that allowed for four gallons a week.
After WWII, bumper stickers began to take off. Early bumper stickers were quick to fade and would leave residue on a car, so vinyl stickers were experimented with. Political or travel bumper stickers were especially popular.
Scratch and sniff stickers first appeared in 1965, with the technology invented by scientists working for the 3M Company. These were a big hit during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, which is also when stickers began to be marketed more toward teachers as rewards for their students.
Soon “sticker bombing” became a practice as well. In the ‘80s and ‘90s artists would produce their own stickers and leave them throughout cities in a twist on graffiti. By this time stickers could be fuzzy, puffy, glow-in-the-dark and so much more.
According to Forbes, stickers have been gaining in popularity once again, even appearing on the digital front in the form of complex emoticons. In this way, digital stickers have become a way for people to communicate. Stickers frequently decorate the outside of technology too. Many people customize their laptops with various stickers to show off their personalities, hobbies or interests.
Stickers enter lives young and can be a powerful way to encourage positive behavior in kids. According to an interview with Ranko Rajović, a UNICEF associate for education and member of the World MENSA Committee for gifted children, collecting stickers is a productive habit for children. He said collecting stickers can help with the development of logical thinking because kids will classify stickers, and that it can also help with motor skills.
Various forms of stickers have been around for centuries. Like many daily objects, they too have a deep history and connection with humanity. Next time you place a sticker on your water bottle or print one out for a student organization, know that thousands of years ago, someone else was sticking paper to something too.
Katie Millard is a junior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. What are your thoughts? Tell Katie by tweeting her at @katie_millard11.
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