What do you think of this fact?
In Germany, people say “Tesa” for pretty much any roll of clear sticky tape, the way some people say “Scotch tape”. But the name wasn’t invented for tape at all, and it came from someone who never designed a single product.
A name made from a name
According to tesa, Elsa Tesmer worked as a secretary at Beiersdorf in Hamburg from April 1903 to October 1908. In 1906, she came up with the name “tesa” using her own: the first two letters of her surname and the last two of her first name. TEsmer plus elSA. According to a report on the brand’s 75th anniversary, she submitted it in an internal naming contest.
Pretty smart, too. It’s short, easy to say and works in almost any language. It just didn’t stick anything yet.
Toothpaste first, tape later
According to the company history, the first product to carry the name was a patented tube for Pebeco toothpaste in 1908. The tube had a twist mechanism, and it simply didn’t catch on. The name, however, wasn’t thrown away.
Almost 30 years later, a commercial clerk named Hugo Kirchberg took over Beiersdorf’s tape business. In 1936, “tesa-Klebefilm” hit the market, a clear tape for everyday use. The clunky name was later shortened to “tesafilm”. According to tesa, Kirchberg also invented the matching tape dispenser.
When the masking tape tesakrepp arrived in 1941, “tesa” became the umbrella brand for all of the group’s self-adhesive products. Today tesa is its own company, and since 2001 it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Beiersdorf AG.
Bonus fact: Beiersdorf’s first technical tape came out back in 1896: a sports plaster called Cito that you could use to patch bicycle tires.
Elsa Tesmer left the company in 1908. Her name is still stuck to millions of desks.