Scotch VCR Tape advert from the 80’s

3M Company (NYSE: MMM), formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Maplewood, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul.

With over 76,000 employees, they produce over 55,000 products, including: adhesives, abrasives, laminates, passive fire protection, dental products, electronic materials, electronic circuits and optical films.^[6] 3M has operations in more than 60 countries – 29 international companies with manufacturing operations, and 35 with laboratories. 3M products are available for purchase through distributors and retailers in more than 200 countries, and many 3M products are available online directly from the company.

History

3M started out on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Illgen City before moving to Two Harbors, Minnesota in 1902. The company moved to Duluth, Minnesota, and then to Saint Paul, Minnesota, staying for 15 years before outgrowing the campus and moving to its current headquarters at 3M Centre in Maplewood. The new campus in Maplewood is 475 acres (1.92 km²) and has over 50 buildings, including an Innovation Center that displays products 3M has taken to market. The company began by mining stone from quarries for use in grinding wheels. Struggling with quality and marketing of its products, management supported its workers to innovate and develop new products which developed into its core business. Twelve years after being founded, 3M developed its first exclusive product: Three-M-ite cloth. Other innovations in this era included masking tape, waterproof sandpaper and Scotch brand tapes. By 1929 3M made its first moves toward international expansion by forming Durex to conduct business in Europe. The same year, the company’s stock was first traded over the counter and in 1946 listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The company is currently a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and of the S&P 500.

Info gleaned from Wikipedia