WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

TALE OF THE TAPE

Profile America — Saturday, January 31st. Richard Drew of the 3M Company was working on another problem when he ended up inventing one of the world's most practical items. He noted that workers painting two-tone cars were having trouble keeping the colors separated along a straight line, so he developed an easy-to-peel, glue-backed masking tape to ease the job. Then, Drew expanded the use of the tape by introducing a clear, cellophane backing. The result was Scotch Tape, first marketed on this date in 1928, and found today under many names in nearly every home and office across the country. Such items are among the many articles stocked in the nation's 7,400 office supply and stationery stores, which sell around $19 billion worth of merchandise annually. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.

Sources:
Anniversary: http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1928/january_31_1928_87247.html
Masking and Scotch tape:
http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventions/a/Scotch_Tape.htm
Office supply stores/NAICS 453210: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=BP_2012_00A1&prodType=table
Sales/NAICS 45321: http://www2.census.gov/retail/releases/current/arts/sales.xls

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

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To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-census-bureau-daily-feature-for-january-31-300022300.html

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau