The History Of The Paper Label

Imagine a world without labels. If every tin can in yourold-fashioned gummed labels and the pressure
kitchen cupboard didn't have a label, it would certainlysensitive labels created by Avery. The next big step
make mealtimes a lot more interesting and somewhatforward came in the computer boom of the 1980s,
random, but there's yet to be a recipe created that'llwhen inkjet printers really became available to the
make tinned peaches and meatballs in gravy tastemasses. As the price of inkjet printers began to fall,
good so thank goodness every tin is clearly labelled.people realised that the quality of printing was far
The paper label is an essential part of 21st Century lifesuperior to the old dot matrix printers. The added
and despite its tendency to go unnoticed and unloved,advantage of being able to feed standard A4 size
paper labels chart the history of modern society andpaper through an inkjet also made the innovation of
still (unless you happen to like meatballs with tinnedlabel sheets possible, and the public began to print their
peaches) has a place today.own labels (professional lithographers were not
Paper labels have been used to identify products sincepleased by this development). The ability to print your
the early 1880s and spawned its own artisticown envelope labels, labels for your home made jam
profession ? the art of the lithographer, the first trulyor pickled onions and a wealth of other applications
commercial art form.encouraged the software manufacturers to include
The driving principle was simple: catch the customer'slabel templates in their office packages.
eye. Make your product stand out amongst the rowsIn the background, the advent of the laser printer
of other products. A simple gum was used to stick the(developed in 1969 by Gary Starkweather at Xerox)
paper labels to the surface of products and shoppingbrought about the next generation of high quality
suddenly became much easier and much moreprinters. Although the first laser printer cost a cool
colourful. As time went on, some designs of paper$3,600, once again prices started to come down and
labels reached iconic status, incorporated into modernby the 1990s laser printers were replacing inkjets as
art (Andy Warhol's Campbell's soup tin) or as athe printer of choice.
collective memory of an entire generation (HeinzAs printers developed, so did the labels to feed them
Baked Beans). There's even a whole collector's fieldand now everyone has the ability to print their own
dedicated to paper labels and some of the rarest canpaper labels. If you're about to send out a big mailshot
command incredible prices.for your business, being able to transfer a database of
The next big breakthrough came in the early 1930snames and addresses en masse into your template
when entrepreneur R. Stanton Avery manufacturedprogram and just hit print saves you time and money.
the world's first self-adhesive labels. This label cameWith every size, colour and even shape available
with a paper surface and a coat of adhesive and athrough office suppliers, paper labels have shown that
liner, which had a special silicone coating. The termeven the simplest of ideas can develop and grow
pressure sensitive became the industry name for thisaccording to the external pressures of the
type of technique of label production and pressuremarketplace. The paper label still has an important role
sensitive labels are and integral part of our lives today.to play both in business and at home, and a pack of
For the next 50 years, the world of labels didn't alterlabels is always a handy piece of stationary to have
drastically ? there was a straight choice betweenaround.