Who was Vesta Stoudt?

Duct tape was created during World War II by a woman named Vesta Stoudt. She was working at the Green River Ordnance Plant near Amboy, Illinois (and had two sons serving in the U.S. Navy) when she noticed that the ammunition boxes she was tasked with packing and inspecting had a flaw. The boxes were sealed with paper tape and then the whole package was dipped in wax to make it waterproof. Although a tab was included to make the paper tape easy to open, it often tore off, so soldiers often struggled to pick away the wax to unseal the ammunition boxes while under fire. Stoudt was concerned, so she came up with the idea of creating a waterproof fabric tape and suggested it to her supervisors, but was unable to get support.


https://www.backthenhistory.com/articles/the-history-of-duct-tape