Page 12 - 2019 December E-issue

The Limited Monopoly®

A Christmas (W)rap

by Robert Gunderman, PE and John Hammond, PE

The Basics of Christmas Present and Past busy not only fixing damaged vehicles, but customizing them in
It was 1987, and Run DMC two tone paint jobs to supplement
had just released Christmas the boring factory finishes of the
in Hollis, probably the most day. These custom paint jobs were
classic Christmas Rap Song all the rage, but a headache for
in existence. Of course Kurtis body shops. Richard Drew was
Blow came out with Christmas a young mechanical engineering
Rappin in 1980, years before the student who never finished his
McDaniels, Mizell and Simons degree, but instead spent his time
trio came out with their song, playing banjo and working for a
but maybe it was the catchiness small sandpaper manufacturer in
of the lyrics or the feature in the Minnesota known as Minnesota
movie Die Hard that pushed Mining and Manufacturing. His
it to the top of the rap and hip job involved calling on automotive
hop heap. Amazingly, the Run repair shops with samples of his
DMC song has its roots in a companys sandpaper. It was
1968 Clarence Carter R&B song through his visits to various auto
called Back Door Santa that repair shops that he heard constant
Mizell (DJ Jam Master Jay) dug complaints from the workers about
up to build the foundations of the two tone paint jobs and the lack of
song. Dial up both songs on your good tape or adhesive to prevent
favorite music delivery browser; the paint colors from bleeding into
the similarities are striking and adjacent areas.
you wont be disappointed with
the music either. The Birth of Masking Tape
Drew became interested in coming
The Other Wrap up with a solution to the problem
While one may argue about the of a good automotive tape, and
necessity of rap in the Christmas much less interested in selling and
season, there are certain aspects testing sandpaper. He came up
of Christmas that do not seem to with the idea of using a modified
change much season to season. version of the adhesive used in
While Christ will always be first, making sandpaper and applying
the Christmas tree, Christmas it to a paper strip backing. Drew
lights, egg nog, Santa Claus spent two years experimenting
and of course neatly wrapped with various formulas and
presents conjure up picture combinations to come up with a
perfect images of Christmas past successful product. In that time,
and present. While wrapping a present flawlessly neat may one of the challenges he faced was in the amount of adhesive to
be considered a disorder by some in todays world, without apply to the paper strips so that the tape would remove cleanly,
the basics of Scotch® tape, that neat packaging would not but still work to prevent paint from wicking under the tape while
be possible. The story of Scotch® tape is one of invention in use. He tried not only numerous adhesive formulations, but
and patents and perhaps a slightly OCD inventor at a small also experimented with the amount to be applied to the paper
sandpaper manufacturer in Minnesota who could not stay on strips, and even tried applying the adhesive only on the edges of
task with his day job. the paper strip, leaving the center of the strip devoid of adhesive
to ease removal. With each iteration, he took samples to his
Richard Drew and His Sticky Inventions favorite auto shops for them to try.
In the 1920s, long before rap or hip-hop, there were cars.
Plenty of them. And even then, automotive body shops were The biggest complaint early on was the lack of enough adhesive,

12 | The ROCHESTER ENGINEER DECEMBER 2019 the limited monopoly