In 1927, Henry Ford changed the way we go from point A to point B. We replaced the horse and carriage with the Model A and then quickly found a way to turn these metal contraptions into a new way of expressing our opinions. Henry Ford also did something else for us with the car. He put them in for thousands of people to buy and as people started having accidents he added the bumper to provide some protection to the front and rear of the car. Combine this bumper with the American desire for free speech and people have found a new way to advertise their products and ideas.

The first bumper “stickers” were made of cardboard and metal. They were then connected by cables and ropes. In fact, they looked more like a license plate than a sticker. However, these were the forerunners of bumper stickers as we know them today.

A change in the way bumper stickers were made would come later. In the 1930s, Forest P. Gill worked for the Crawford Manufacturing Company in Kansas City, Missouri. The company had been manufacturing canvas items, such as seat covers and tires. The canvas was a resistant material but also very versatile, since it could be printed with ink by screen printing. These inks were different from the dyes that had been used in the past in that the dyes would fade or run in sunlight or rain. As a result, the canvas turned out to be an excellent choice for outdoor print ads. Soon the tarp was used for outdoor advertisements on the tarpaulin awnings that ran over the shop windows and later used to cover spare tires and turn them into advertisements as well.

After the Crawford Manufacturing Company closed, Gill decided to start his own business. Gill received some printing equipment from his former employer and started a printing business in his basement in 1934.

Gill struggled to make ends meet and printed everything from bumper posters to can labels. Prints were chemically treated to prevent smudging and weather resistance. As Gill’s operation grew, he had to hire employees. Gill moved from the basement to 906 Central in Kansas City. The store was just down the block from the Savoy Hotel, where Harry Truman had lunch at the Savoy Grill.

Later, in 1946, a new trend in inks and dyes emerged. Switzer Brother’s Inc., located in Cleveland, Ohio, created them. They introduced new colors that were called DayGlo due to their bright and glowing appearance during the day. Gill soon began experimenting with these new inks and creating posters with them. These inks were very eye-catching and advertisers wanted to use them to get more attention.

At the same time, another revelation was being created. This revelation was a new adhesive-backed paper made available to commercial printers. On the back of these papers, a backing could be removed and then the paper could be glued to a smooth surface. Up until that point, screen printing stickers had only been used with water activated rubber paper, but these couldn’t withstand the weather and would crumble over time.

In another part of Kansas City, a printer told Gill about a company that used independent salespeople to advertise products that were being sold in regional territories by door-to-door street vendors. Gill contacted the nationwide advertising company located in Arlington, Texas. The company helped Gill create an ad that would advertise bumper stickers to sales representatives, who could then sell them in various locations, such as tourist destinations. The bumper sticker quickly became the perfect souvenir as people were buying cars after the war.

The first bumper stickers were printed on blue and black backgrounds. The ink was fluorescent and brightly announced where the family had been on vacation. They soon helped spread information about tourist destinations located throughout the country. To promote himself, Gill placed his company name at the bottom of the stickers he printed on the bumpers. This launched a product that would soon become part of our democracy and would become a symbol of the First Amendment.