Sticker
A sticker is a type of label: a piece of printed paper, plastic, vinyl, or other material with temporary or permanent pressure sensitive adhesive on one side. It can be used for decoration or for functional purposes, depending on the situation.
Stickers can come in many different shapes and sizes and also vary widely in color and design. They are often adhered to items such as lunchboxes, paper, lockers, notebooks, walls, cars, windows, used as name tags, and so on.
The term "sticker price" refers to the historic practice of adhering a large sticker to the window of a new car listing its base price, options, shipping charges, etc. (from which a discount was often negotiated).
History
[edit]An early example is the Peukestas order, a papyrus notice posted in Egypt around 331 BCE.[1]
Notices, advertisements, and posted bills applied to surfaces with tacks or paste would be the norm, although sometimes strictly regulated.
In the 1750s Simon François Ravenet developed the decalcomania process by which engravings and prints via a transfer paper are affixed to pottery, wood, metal or glass.[2][3]
Two important advances were gummed adhesive paper by Rowland Hill in 1839, and pressure-sensitive adhesives in 1845.[4]
User-moistened stickers
[edit]The adhesive postage stamp appeared in 1840.
By the 1860s gummed and cut paper labels became available,[5] which needed to be moistened with water to activate the adhesive before being affixed.
An early application was book plates and library tags.[6]
.jpg)
Steamer trunk luggage labels which appeared in the 1870s represented an early status symbol.[7]
In some areas of the U.S. voters used stickers to enter pre-printed candidate names onto election ballots.[8] [9]
In 1886 continuous gummed paper tape was introduced for parcel sealing, then later available decorated around 1919.[10]
In 1891 Trading stamp store loyalty programs began.
By 1896 the Return address pre-printed gummed label was being offered by printers.
The Brussels International Exposition (1897) in Belgium commissioned a series of stickers to promote the exhibition.
Around 1900 Dennison Manufacturing Company offered gummed seals in gold, silver, red, green and blue, soon followed by gold stars, and flag stickers.[11]
By 1902 stickers began to proliferate,[12] including dedicated businesses such as St. Louis Sticker Co.[13] [14]
Sticker red hearts are sold by 1911.[15]
In 1904 Christmas seals were first issued in Denmark.
Example early sticker campaigns in U.S. include Red Sticker Union Made campaign,[16] American Red Cross,[17] and European Child Relief Fund.[18]
Sometime after 1912 Cracker Jack included prize may have been temporary tattoo sticker, and later by cereal and bubble gum offerings.
In 1919 a business in Buffalo, New York, applied stickers on receipts with the word "thanks" and a smiling face.
Automobile window decals, such as National Park emblems, became popular in 1920s.[19]
Self-adhesive stickers
[edit]R. Stanton Avery is credited with creating the first self-adhesive sticker in 1935, with commercial sale in 1940 under the name "Kum Kleen Price Stickers", under the former "Avery Adhesives" company in Los Angeles, where its original use was for labeling on various goods and products.[20]
Example sticker types include:
- 1942 war time gas rationing allocation[21]
- 1940s bumper stickers used to advertise travel attractions
- 1958 Automobile Information Disclosure Act required a new type of label be affixed to the window of every new car sold in the U.S.
- 1967 Topps began the Wacky Packages series of collectible stickers
- 1976 Hello Kitty character stickers
- 1977 the white oval International vehicle registration code on rear of vehicle could be represented as a sticker
- 1985 Parents Music Resource Center advocates marking commercial recordings containing explicit lyrics
- 1988 Janet Boudreau's rippling flag “I Voted” sticker offered at U.S. election polling locations[22]
Use
[edit]
Stickers are widely used when an object requires identification with a word or idea. Brand stickers may be attached to products to label these products as coming from a certain company. They may also be used to describe characteristics of the products that would not be obvious from simple examination, or to clarify either a printing error or change in the product of some kind, such as the country of origination, shift in a product's ingredients, a shelf life date, or copyright notice, without having to scrap pre-existing packaging for such a small change. A label dispenser is often used as a convenient way to separate the sticky label from its liner or backing tape.
Stickers placed on automobile bumpers, magnetic and permanent, called bumper stickers, are often used by individuals as a way of demonstrating support for political or ideological causes. Identification of vehicle registration and last service details are two examples of stickers on the inside of most car windscreens. The term "window sticker" is generally used for vinyl labels which are stuck to the inside of a vehicle's window, as opposed to water-resistant stickers that are stuck to the outside of a vehicle but can be affixed to anything.
Stickers are also used for embellishing scrapbooking pages. Kinds of stickers sold for this purpose include acrylic, 3D, cardstock, epoxy, fabric, flocked, sparkly, paper, puffy, and vellum. While in the earlier days of scrapbooking stickers were sold mostly on 2"x6" sheets, now[when?] 6"x12" and even 12"x12" size sheets are very common.
They are frequently distributed as part of promotional, and political campaigns; for example, in many voting districts in the U.S., stickers indicating an individual has voted are given to each voter as they leave the polling place, largely as a reminder to others to vote. Observers may clap hands, honk a horn or otherwise applaud a good sticker.
In the 16th century French aristocracy wore stickers on their face to hide blemishes.[23]
Temporary stickers are used today to indicate whether someone is free of certain health symptoms, been vaccinated, or otherwise cleared some security protocol.
Stickers are also used as a form of guerilla marketing, as well as serving as a ubiquitous form of visual and physical vandalism.
Stickers are also printed for use as temporary tattoos.
Discount stickers
[edit].jpg){kind=spacer}
.jpg)
Discount stickers are a price markdown that are used to alert shoppers to goods which have been reduced in price, such as food approaching its sell-by date or inventory in discount clothing or outlet stores.[24] Some stores, especially discount clothing stores, have been accused of using discount stickers to create the impression of price markdowns when there is none.[25][24]
In certain contexts, specific types of stickers have had additional meaning. For example, yellow stickers are used for this purpose by several British supermarket chains, including Asda, Sainsbury's, and Tesco. Post Brexit cost of living increases in the UK, have highlighted the importance of "yellow sticker shopping" as a way to deal with real price increases.[26][27][28]Collecting
[edit]
At their simplest stickers can be beginner-friendly collectables, serving as a gateway to the collecting hobby.
Forming a partnership with FIFA in 1970, Panini first produced a World Cup sticker album for the 1970 World Cup.[29][30] Initiating a craze for collecting and trading stickers, since then, collecting and trading stickers has become part of the World Cup experience, especially for the younger generation.[31][32] UK newspaper The Guardian states, "the tradition of swapping duplicate [World Cup] stickers was a playground fixture during the 1970s and 1980s."[31]
See also
[edit]- Beauty mark
- Decal
- Pressure-sensitive tape
- Prizes
- Release liner
- Sticker album
- Sticker (Internet) – emoticon-like pictures
- Water slide decal
- Tattoo
References
[edit]- ^ Schubert, Paul (2022) Posting a Public Notice on Papyrus: A Frequent Phenomenon? Aegyptus vol. 102, p. 203–218
- ^ Glazier, Richard (1899) A Manual of Historic Ornament London: Batsford p. 106
- ^ Baker, Whitney (2015) Sticking Point: History of Decals Collections Vol 11 #4:275–290
- ^ Akyar, Isin (2011) Wide Spectra of Quality Control
- ^ Mack, Horace (1879) History of Columbiana County Ohio
- ^ American Literary Gazette and Publishers' Circular 1867 v9 #7:186
- ^ Hartov, Oren (2024) A History of the Hotel Luggage Label Analog:Shift
- ^ State Campaign MA Springfield Republican 1882-Oct-27 p1 5th column
- ^ "Stickers" KS Iola Register 1882-Nov-24 p7
- ^ Stationery Trades' Journal Nov 1927 pp12,27
- ^ Proceedings of New York State Teachers Association p413
- ^ Epidemic of "Sticker Lips" St. Louis Republic 1902-Oct-24 p4
- ^ 1903 St. Louis Sticker Co. St. Louis I Am A Sticker ebay.com
- ^ Stickers St Louis Sticker Co Printers Ink Monthly 1926 V12 #5 p168
- ^ KS Topeka State Journal 1911-02-04 p16
- ^ The Red Sticker NE Wageworker Union 1906-Apr-13 p3
- ^ Movement Reaches New York Pensacola Journal 1918-Jun-20 p5
- ^ Yes Mr. Hoover [VT Barton] Orleans County Monitor 1921-Jan-26 p6
- ^ New Sticker Disease Seattle Star 1924-Aug-6
- ^ "The Amazing History of Labels: When Were Stickers Invented?". www.avery.com/blog/. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ Hendricks, Nancy (2018) Popular Fads and Crazes through American History
- ^ I Voted sticker AARP Magazine 2024
- ^ "That Time the French Aristocracy Was Obsessed With Sexy Face Stickers".
- ^ a b Ettinger, Jill (2023-07-14). "Irate shopper calls out Nordstrom Rack for deceptive price tag: 'Ignore the before prices and percentages'". The Cool Down. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
- ^ "Shopper disappointed to find sale sticker has same price as tag underneath, but Uniqlo explains why". Stomp. 2023-06-18. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
- ^ Houlton, Cara (9 May 2023). "Nearly 40% of shoppers buying 'yellow sticker' reduced food products". Grocery Gazette. Archived from the original on 2023-07-01. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
- ^ Calnan, Marianne (13 May 2023). "Best times of day to get 'yellow sticker' supermarket bargains revealed". Which. Archived from the original on 2023-07-01. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
- ^ Peachey, Kevin (16 April 2023). "Loyalty cards: How a big yellow label influences what we buy". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2023-07-01. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "Brand collaborations". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on May 8, 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
- ^ "Panini World Cup 2018 stickers: When is the iconic sticker album release date? And how much will it cost?". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
- ^ a b "Panini World Cup sticker book". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
- ^ “The Magic, Global Craze and Tradition of Panini's World Cup Sticker Albums”. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2 September 2018
External links
[edit]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
