History of Labels

Paper labels have been used to identify products since the early 1880's. introduced to America by European artists, this profession became known as lithography, the first commercial art. the goal was simple - 'catch the consumers eyes/attention'.

in the early 1930's, entrepreneur Robert Avery (mentioned in previous post) invented the worlds first adhesive label. this label came with a paper surface with a coat of adhesive and then a liner which had a special silicone coating was stuck onto the adhesive.

in the early 80's the inkjet printer was invented - thus changing the future of labelling. as the inkjet printer began to commercialise people started to print their own labels as it was cheaper. people were using Microsoft Windows as it included a label template in their programme. this meant millions of people were able to create their own labels for a fraction of the cost. not long after the fist laser printer was invented by Gary Starkweather. the laser printer dramatically changed the industry as it was quicker and easier to print but it also created better quality labels which were a lot clearer.

^ www.worldlabel.com


Bottled products used paper labels in the 17th century, Early drug phials had a label which covered the whole of the glass and early 18th century patent medicine vendors were using paper labels wildly. The first alcohol bottle label seems to have emerged in the middle of the 18th century. Up to the 1860'w bottle of wine were sold in cases largely to members of the upper and middle classes, therefore not distributed widely. However, concern that a wider public should have access to wine gave rise to legislation to allow retailers to sell their wine in single bottles and each bottle had to have a label. This then brought competition as retailers were trying to get people to drink their product over someone else without having tasted it, it became apparent that the way to do this was to create a label which grabbed their attention.