While Mike goes on with his conspiracy theory of duct tape, I thought I would share something rom the Philly Ink, seeing as I get a complimentary copy each day, or ought to. This is paraphrased from Tanya Barrientos, “A sticky question: What acts like a duck but still holds heating ducts?” pA8, Philadelphia Inquirer, 14 February 2003.
Originally created by Johnson and Johnson’s Permacel Division, the waterproof easy-to-tear tape, unlike 3M’s masking tape, was perfect for waterproofing ammo cases and was colored combat green. Ever-adapting soldiers called it duck tape because water rolled off it and used it for fixing mechanical stuff, waterproofing assorted boots and boxes, and strapping cigs to arms.
In the fifties postwar housing boom, it - became used for heating ducts
- became silver
- got called duct tape
.
In the seventies, it landed on hardware store shelves; it has been a home-repair staple ever since.
In the noughties, it is sucked off the shelves by terrorist scares.
Henkel Consumer Adhesives makes Duck brand tape, others make their own brands of duct tape.
Various communities call it - 200mph tape (pit crews)
- rock-and-roll tape (roadies)
- hiker’s helper
- canoeists’ companion
- gaff tape (Britishers, and, I suppose, gaffers. coloured black.)
3:22:27 PM 
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