Adhesive label

An adhesive label or sticky label is a small piece of paper designed to be affixed to another larger piece of paper or other object, typically by the action of a layer of adhesive on the back of the label.

Main article: Label

Name tag labels

The most familiar type of label is the postage stamp, which was developed in the mid-19th century. In 1935, R. Stanton Avery invented a machine to make self-adhesive labels.[1]

A sheet containing adhesive labels

The concept has since been extended into a variety of areas:

• On mail:
  • airmail etiquettes
  • charity labels
  • address labels
    • return address labels
  • postage meter labels
  • certain types of postal labels
• On other kinds of paper objects:
  • revenue stamps
  • savings stamps
  • general markers, notices, or warnings

Almost every imaginable type of paper and adhesive has been used at some point; see postage stamp paper and postage stamp gum for a more detailed discussion. Label may be produced individually, or in sheets, which case they are usually separated by perforations or rouletting, see postage stamp separation.

See also

• Gutter (philately)
• Label (philately)

Notes

1. R. Stanton Avery, 90, Inventor and Producer of Self-Sticking Labels, Dec. 22, 1997, The New York Times

External links

• The history of self adhesive labels, WorldLabel.com
• THE HISTORY OF SELF ADHESIVE LABELS, Etiquette.co.uk