White-out: How correction fluid made its mark

Unless you’re in [the redaction business]( correction fluid might seem like an anachronistic office supply. Whether you call it by the generic colloquial “white-out,” or one of the many big brand names it’s synonymous with—Wite-Out, Tipp-Ex, or the o.g. Liquid Paper—aren’t the practical use cases of a physical paint to conceal typos somewhat opaque these days? Not according to the numbers. The correction fluid market has stayed resilient even as paper sales decline, [the Atlantic reports]( with Wite-Out brand sales increasing 10% in 2017 after a 7% slump the year before. Despite our well-documented digital inclinations, correction tape sales and the US stationery market as a whole also manage to remain flat. The industry is even innovating: Wite-Out is releasing a range of colored dispensers, and [Adweek reports]( that painters are using the fluid as paint. But make no mistake, correction fluid is about more than eye-catching packaging and artistic potential. Let’s reveal why. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( [Quartz Obsession] White-out April 23, 2019 An unerasable invention --------------------------------------------------------------- Unless you’re in [the redaction business]( correction fluid might seem like an anachronistic office supply. Whether you call it by the generic colloquial “white-out,” or one of the many big brand names it’s synonymous with—Wite-Out, Tipp-Ex, or the o.g. Liquid Paper—aren’t the practical use cases of a physical paint to conceal typos somewhat opaque these days? Not according to the numbers. The correction fluid market has stayed resilient even as paper sales decline, [the Atlantic reports]( with Wite-Out brand sales increasing 10% in 2017 after a 7% slump the year before. Despite our well-documented digital inclinations, correction tape sales and the US stationery market as a whole also manage to remain flat. The industry is even innovating: Wite-Out is releasing a range of colored dispensers, and [Adweek reports]( that painters are using the fluid as paint. But make no mistake, correction fluid is about more than eye-catching packaging and artistic potential. Let’s reveal why. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( By the digits [$217 billion:]( Size of the global office stationary and supply market in 2019, according to Technavio [9%:]( Share of the global stationery market that correction products accounted for in 2017, up from 6% the year prior, according to Bic Corporation [$47.5 million:]( Amount the original correction fluid company, Liquid Paper, sold to Gillette for in 1979 (about [$166 million today]( [500:]( Bottles of correction fluid Liquid Paper could produce a minute in 1975 [21.7 million:]( Number of Americans aged 12 and older who said they’ve used inhalants at least once [$5 million:]( Amount a Hong Kong city official managed to embezzle by using correction fluid to alter invoices Origin story Necessity is the mother of invention --------------------------------------------------------------- In 1954, Bette Nesmith Graham was a divorced single mother working as a secretary at Texas Bank & Trust. [At the time]( a new model of typewriters suddenly had very sensitive keypads and carbon ribbons instead of fabric ones, meaning erasers that worked before now smudged carbon across the page—a nightmare for secretaries like Graham. Drawing from her experience as an artist, Graham decided to create a solution to simply paint over mistakes as she would on a canvas. She mixed fast-drying white tempera paint with water and brought the concoction to the office along with a watercolor brush to discreetly cover up her typos. Soon, other secretaries at the bank were asking for the makeshift correction fluid, which Graham called “Mistake Out.” She would stay up all night to meet demand, eventually paying her son and his friends $1/hour to help bottle the liquid. (Party fact: Graham’s son, Michael Nesmith, would later find fame as a member of the pop rock band [The Monkees]( In 1958, Graham was [reportedly fired]( when she slipped up and signed a bank letter with the name of her still-secret company. But this would turn out to be a blessing. She renamed her venture the Liquid Paper Company, applied for a patent, and turned her attention to it full time. Business boomed in the ‘60s, bolstered by bulk orders from corporations such as IBM and General Electric. By 1975, the company was producing [25 million bottles]( a year and competitors, [such as Wite-Out]( had emerged. Graham’s new wealth allowed her to afford luxuries like a Rolls Royce, as well as set up foundations that supported female artists and entrepreneurs. And despite the best efforts of Graham’s second husband to take over the company and shut her out from royalties, she wrestled back full control before her death in 1980. A new place to talk about the news --------------------------------------------------------------- We’re tired of all the shouting matches and echo chambers on social media. On the new Quartz app, we’ve gathered a community of curious thinkers and doers to have high-quality discussions about the most important stories each day. It’s like an ongoing conversation with CEOs like Richard Branson, Punit Renjen, Arianna Huffington, and many more. [Try the Quartz app]( Quotable “Most men are ignorant—they don’t really understand…. And so women have to just keep on with their determination and be relentless. We have to not relent.” —[Bette Nesmith Graham to the Business Archives Project in 1977]( AP Photo/Paul Sakuma Pop quiz Which of these is not a notable correction fluid brand? CivorsTwinkSnopakeTesa Correct. Tesa is a leading manufacturer of adhesives. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Don’t try this at home Poison control --------------------------------------------------------------- Correction fluid featured prominently in the alarming “[huffing]( trend—inhaling toxic chemicals like glue and house cleaning products—for a quick and cheap high. Correction fluids contain volatile solvents, liquids that vaporize at room temperature, which can have a mind-altering effect if inhaled. [According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse]( inhalants can cause death from cardiac arrest, lower oxygen levels in the blood to a dangerous degree, and can damage vital organs if used regularly. There are [reports]( from as early as the 1970s of teenagers dying from inhaling white-out, which prompted Liquid Paper to display a warning label on its packaging [from 1982](. Some companies also add an unpleasant smell to their product to deter abusers. The trend seems to have peaked in the ‘90s. Inhalant abuse has [decreased significantly]( recent years, although there are still cases [around the world](. And white-out is still less poisonous than it used to be, since the thinning agents once used—toluene and trichloroethane—are now [widely banned]( because they were found to harm the environment and [increase the risk of cancer](. A chemical compound called bromopropane is now used, although water-soluble brands remain the safest. Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with White-out? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Obsession email – to the email – Giphy Explain it like I’m 5! How is white-out made? --------------------------------------------------------------- The manufacturing process for correction fluid can be broken down into [three main steps]( according to [How Products Are Made](. ☝️Compounding the batch: Ingredients are slowly added to 3,000-gallon stainless steel tanks equipped with mixers and temperature controls. Water is added first, followed by pigment, resin, and preservatives. The mixing is carefully regulated to keep air out. ✅Quality control check: Once everything is mixed, specialists will test a sample of the batch for characteristics like the pH, viscosity, color, and smell. After any adjustments are made, and the batch is approved, the mixture is transferred to a holding tank. 📦Filing and packing: This process is adjusted according to the size and shape of the container the correction fluid is sold in. The containers travel down a conveyor belt and are injected with correction fluid, then sent to a capping machine where they are sealed. Fun fact! In February, an unidentified driver in the town of Plaistow, New Hampshire, used Wite-Out to [illegally change the expiry date]( on a temporary license plate. The driver was issued a ticket, and Plaistow took to social media to warn others against trying such a trick. Watch this Michael Nesmith from The Monkees stars in this 1990 advertisement for Liquid Paper, where he praises his mother while walking through a recording studio. Take me down this 🐰🕳️ The art of covering up --------------------------------------------------------------- Graham was inspired by painters’ techniques to invent correction fluid, and painters have used correction fluid to create art. [Peter Sacks]( is a South African painter and renowned literary critic and poet. Wite-Out was, in some ways, the arts material that kickstarted his painting career and signature style. In 1999, he took a series of photos that disappointed him. But on instinct, he started layering Wite-Out over the photographs. “It formed troughs and crests, valleys and ridges. He seemed to be watching in a reverie as terrain emerged—tundra, ocean, blankness, covering the paths he’d just travelled,” Joshua Rothman [writes in the New Yorker](. Then, Sacks extracted pigment from food items—tomatoes, coffee—and colored the landscape. “They became little landscapes of my own silence,” Sacks told the New Yorker. “Then they started to speak to me, these erased, blotted-out things. They were both terminal and initiatory. They were little windows where, if I bent down to them, I could hear something.” Giphy Million-dollar question Why hasn’t white-out wiped out? --------------------------------------------------------------- Even though people are buying less paper, the [luxury stationery market is thriving]( and, [according to the National Retail Foundation]( so is the greeting card industry. [Bullet journaling]( is a popular and aesthetically pleasing trend, while handwritten thank-you notes remain a kind, [and smart]( gesture. All this means that there are plenty of opportunities to write something by hand, make a mistake, and reach for some good ol’ white-out. But there’s also something nostalgic about correction fluid, and [nostalgia sells](. In his story for the Atlantic, [David Graham argues]( that the attraction to white-out also has to do with the physical act of concealing a mistake, which is more gratifying than hitting backspace to delete it instantly. ([And perhaps more foolproof]( “There’s also a poignancy to a [screwed generation]( gravitating toward Wite-Out,” Graham writes. Perhaps what’s important is not just covering up mistakes and pretending it didn’t happen, as Graham posits, but also the chance to start fresh and create something new. Giphy Poll Do you still use white-out? [Click here to vote]( Can’t live without it!Can’t remember the last time I needed it! In yesterday’s poll about [bricks]( 68% of you said you’re happy to appreciate them where they are. 📧 Jemar wrote: “Surprised there was no mention about when [Supreme sold their bricks]( 🤔 [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20white-out&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 🎲 [Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Aisha Hassan]( edited by [Jessanne Collins,]( and produced by [Luiz Romero](. 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