I think it's a great idea for an exhibit (I wish I had thought of it).

What a wonderful, fun way to examine technology and culture (witness the
enthusiasm on the list). Everybody has a duct tape story and to one degree
or another it is about how they adapted a technology to their needs.

We live in an era in which we accept without thought that technology
changes culture/society.  Duct tape is a reminder that process works in
reverse as well and that the relationship between culture and technology is
a complex one.

Anyway, my duct tape story.

25 years ago, on a canoe trip, my buddy found a roll of silver tape on a
portage trail.  None of us had ever heard of duct tape but this stuff
looked really strong and potentially useful.  So we threw it in a pack.
 Later that day, we accidently sent an aluminum canoe over a waterfall and
wrapped it around a rock. We bend and pound it back into shape (sort of)
but we are left with a large tear in the bottom.  No way this canoe is
going to float.  With little confidence, we cover the tear with the new
tape.  Wonders! its waterproof!  We spend the next week bouncing off rocks
and the tape still holds.  There is a benevolent supreme being. QED.

So Dan, a big oral history component to this exhibit, I would think.


Ian Kerr-Wilson, Curator
Hamilton Museum of Steam and Technology
900 Woodward Avenue
Hamilton ON L8H 7N2
905 546-4797 (voice)
905 546-4798 (fax)
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