by Jerry Riley

Someone asked me if I was wearing my duct tape cap because it was National Duct Tape Day. After a little research I discovered that there is no National Duct Tape Day. I wondered why.

Maybe it’s just too sticky of subject for normal people to tackle. Well, I qualify to tackle it. Yes, I know, what a revoltin’ development this is! Maybe the normal people just got stuck. As I’ve pointed out before duct tape helps hold the world together. I guess one could say duct tape was out of this world when Apollo 13 used duct tape to invent a way to put a square air filter into a round hole on this ill fated moon flight

Today we can buy many different brands and colors of duct tape for almost any use. Mythbusters had centered several programs around things duct tape can do, but was probably never intended for. They used it to lift and stop cars. They ventured to a deserted island (well, except for the film company) made hats, shoes, tables, hammock and even a chess board and chessmen out of this versatile material. They have used duct tape as the primary material for both a boat and an airplane. Both worked!

I walk a lot and observe things. Not a day goes by that I don’t see some vehicles that have duct tape visible. It might be holding a window in place. It might be holding a piece of plastic over the window in place. I’ve see duct tape used as a headlight and even bumper brackets.

Yes, duct tape was originally called Duck Tape and has an interesting history. That may be for a future column.

Jerry Riley comments for the News Bulletin. He is a retired telecommunications supervisor.