Duc? tape

It wouldn't let me check both, Duct after it's original use I believe, and Duck as a current Brand of duct tape.

Ironically, it’s not very good at its original purpose.  Warm ductwork causes the fabric to delaminate over time.  Rated foil taps are much better for the application.

Jason

Well, after clicking it, naming Duct tape or Duck tape (bother are correct) is about the limit of James Hamilton's woodworking skills.

Peter Martin wrote:

Click "Hidden text" above the poll for the answer. (Hint: Quack)

You found the limit of my curmudgeon resistance.  Not gonna hit the link, I don't like to encourage this sort of thing.  Sorry Peter, but this is too silly.

The tape was invented for sealing ductwork, and though it does that poorly, it is somewhat useful for other things.  Some outfit in the 1990's if I remember correctly started marketing it as Duck tape as a cute way of distinguishing their product from the competition.  Nothing more to it than that.

Personally, I don't like the stuff and usually don't have any around.  Like Jason, I prefer aluminum tape for sealing applications.  At work they have a history of using gaffer's tape, which I do find marginally useful, but I dislike for the residue it leaves (and since tape is by it's nature temporary, you end up having to deal with the residue).  Usually I find another way than using tape however.

Just for fun, I tried AI and once again it came through, verifying the link:

Duct tape was originally invented during World War II in 1942 by a woman named Vesta Stoudt, who worked at an ordnance factory in Illinois.
She noticed that soldiers struggled with opening ammunition boxes quickly in combat because the wax-sealed tape then in use was too hard to remove. Stoudt proposed a cloth-based, waterproof tape with a strong adhesive that could both seal the boxes and be torn by hand.
She even wrote directly to President Franklin D. Roosevelt with her idea. The letter was passed to the War Production Board, which approved it, and the Johnson & Johnson company (Permacel division) developed the first version.
It was nicknamed “duck tape” at first because it was waterproof (like water rolling off a duck’s back) and made of cotton duck cloth. After the war, it became widely used for household and construction purposes, especially for sealing heating and air ducts—leading to the modern name “duct tape.”

John in NM wrote:

Peter Martin wrote:

Click "Hidden text" above the poll for the answer. (Hint: Quack)

 I don't like to encourage this sort of thing.  

Nubs is in about the same class as the TV infomercials that try to sell some item to old people, then put them on a "subscription" with shipping fees 5 times the amount of the item, and then make it impossible for the elderly folks to figure out how to cancel it. 

I'm surprised he's not trying to sell football bats.

Dale Stansbery wrote:

Just for fun, I tried AI and once again it came through, verifying the link:

Duct tape was originally invented during World War II in 1942 by a woman named Vesta Stoudt, who worked at an ordnance factory in Illinois.
She noticed that soldiers struggled with opening ammunition boxes quickly in combat because the wax-sealed tape then in use was too hard to remove. Stoudt proposed a cloth-based, waterproof tape with a strong adhesive that could both seal the boxes and be torn by hand.
She even wrote directly to President Franklin D. Roosevelt with her idea. The letter was passed to the War Production Board, which approved it, and the Johnson & Johnson company (Permacel division) developed the first version.
It was nicknamed “duck tape” at first because it was waterproof (like water rolling off a duck’s back) and made of cotton duck cloth. After the war, it became widely used for household and construction purposes, especially for sealing heating and air ducts—leading to the modern name “duct tape.”

Honestly, that sounds a lot more like gaffers tape than duct tape, but I'll take it as it is.  I stand corrected