"anorton" fired this volley in
:

Actually, it was originally called duck tape because it was made from
cotton duck fabric and was water proof.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duct_tape

That's one of those Wiki-Lies, probably written to defend the improper
use of the term "duck".

Since I'm old enough to remember, I'll tell you that the original DUCT
tape was made like today's profession Gaffer's tape. It was made from
canvas, not duck. Duck is a much heavier 2x2 weave that isn't ultimately
as strong as a single flat-weave canvas.

The original DUCT tape was strong, would stick tenaciously to everything,
and WAS used (specifically) on AC ducting in the early days of the late
40's through the 1970s.

In the mid-seventies, some cheap-for-the-dime retailers demanded that
someone make a sticky tape with an inexpensive gauze fabric and a thin
vinyl backing that "looked like duct tape"; for no other reason than to
cheapen it.

That cheap stuff "stuck" (as it were), and real duct tape became
"Professional Gaffer's tape", which one can still buy.

The original stuff presented a fabric backing, not a slick vinyl one, and
was not designed to hold by itself, but to be wire-bound to the (then
metal) ducting, then painted. It was a sealing mechanism, not a
structural fastener. And it was good. Not like the crap you buy today
under the same moniker.

LLoyd