Whya Duck?

William Safire strikes again.

“The original name of the cloth-backed, waterproof adhesive product was duck tape, developed for the United States Army by the Permacel division of Johnson & Johnson to keep moisture out of ammunition cases. The earliest civilian use I can find is in an advertisement by Gimbels department store in June 1942 (antedating the O.E.D. entry by three decades — nobody but nobody beats this column), which substitutes our product for the ”ladder tape” that usually holds together Venetian blinds. For $2.99, Gimbels — now defunct — would provide blinds ”in cream with cream tape or in white with duck tape.””

This is a fabulous exposition of the etymology of duct/duck tape. I am also pleased to see a reference to the beloved Gimbel’s, now long gone.