Seen in FBDO
Three bottles of Liquid Paper products are best seen at 00:08:44 in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off as we are first introduced to Mr. Rooney and his secretary, Grace.
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| Image: Paramount Pictures |
Of course, the Liquid Paper is a little more noticeable at 00:10:13 when Grace takes a moment to escape from the demands of Mr. Rooney’s office.
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| Image: Paramount Pictures |
Description
Liquid Paper correction fluid was one of the most essential tools of the typewriter age, sold in little brush-cap bottles for covering typed or handwritten mistakes before retyping or writing over them. By the early 1980s, Liquid Paper was no longer just a plain white office supply as the line expanded to include options for correcting pen and ink mistakes, covering errors on photocopied materials and others to match colors of commonly stocked office papers.
Liquid Paper was invented by Bette Nesmith Graham, a Dallas bank secretary who, frustrated by typing errors, began experimenting with white tempera-like mixtures in the 1950s. She first called it Mistake Out, then renamed it Liquid Paper, eventually turning the homemade correction fluid into a major office-supply business. In 1979, she sold the company to Gillette for roughly $47.5 million, shortly before her death in 1980.
One notable pop-culture footnote is that Bette Nesmith Graham was the mother of Michael Nesmith, the wool-hat-wearing member of The Monkees. As a teenager, Nesmith reportedly helped with the family business in its early home-production days, long before his television and music fame.
Find Your Own
- Check eBay for your own vintage bottle of Liquid Paper!
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Learn More
- Visit the National Institute on Drug Abuse for more on the risks and health hazards associated with sniffing inhalants.