You read the headline correctly. The company that brought we GenX'rs aromatic sticker has chosen to close their doors after 55 years. Trend Enterprises who manufactures a variety of school supplies, not just Scratch N Sniff disclosed on their site that they will end production for the 2025 school year.
Among their other products, the GenX'rs know that this sends a shock to us as those Scratch N Sniff stickers were more than a fad. Many of us remember sticking them on our binders, books, desks, lockers, and nearly anywhere in between. The entertainment of the scents as well as the variety and the cartoon characters brought a little distraction and smile to any student. From simple mono-scents such as strawberry, watermelon, apple, to complex combinations like pies, popcorn, pizza, along with seasonal sets like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and many others.
These stickers were a scientific lab experiment turned marketing genius. Gale Matson was working on creating a carbonless copy paper while working as a chemist at 3M in the 1960s. Her discovery of combing microscopic ink into equally microscopic capsules to create this carbonless paper was realized by the marketing department as a way to capture scents into these same capsules. By agitating or "scratching" the capsules on a paper, it breaks the capsule which enables the scent to radiate.
Another strike of nostalgia wisps away, unfortunately. However, many of us fondly remember catching a whiff of grape soda or even the not so pleasant shoe scents from our childhood.
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