Arthur Fry, the inventor of Post-Its

Matthew: The person who invented Post-its — is it true that he worked for 3M at the time and did not make a cent on the idea? — Sherry, University Heights

Stop any Average Joe on the street and ask for the name of Carter’s secretary of state, you’ll get a blank stare. Then ask what the inventor of Post-it Notes got from 3M, and he’ll immediately tell you, “The shaft.” Somehow this Post-it factoid has spread through the country faster than measles on a playground. What other internal corporate tidbit is so widely known? Of course, as “common knowledge,” it’s only vaguely related to the truth. But as a paradigm for the heartless corporation biting the humble employee in the butt, I guess the story will live forever.

Yes. True. Long-time 3M scientist Arthur Fry receives no royalties on Post-its, even though the little stickums are firmly attached to the list of top five office products in volume sales. He thought up the idea while sitting with the church choir, his mind wandering from a boring sermon. He wanted something he could use to temporarily mark the week’s hymns in his hymnal, since his torn paper scraps kept falling out. At work Fry located a vat of faulty adhesive the company had shelved, and he fiddled around until he had Post-its.

But Fry didn’t hand ’em over to the 3M suits, pick up his lunch pail and raggedy windbreaker, and shuffle off to the bus stop. Post-its are just one of several dozen profitable ideas Fry developed for the company. At his retirement, the inventive gent was making a salary that, by his estimation, would match “the CEO of a small company.” He still travels the world as a 3M rep at conferences and trade fairs.

It’s fairly standard for a company to claim any product developed by an employee on company time, using company resources. But if it’s smart like 3M, the front office will make sure the employee is well rewarded in other ways. So don’t worry about Art. Last we heard from him, he described life as “really nifty!”