Shades of Spam Arrest

Here's an interesting story on the derivation of the word "tabloid" for a newspaper. It's a trademark registered in the United Kingdom in 1884 for compressed medicines, a portmanteau of "tablet" and "ovoid."



The use of the mark was later expanded to tea,

first aid kits,

snake bite kits,


photographic chemicals,


and other goods. Burroughs Wellcome fought a battle with newspaper publishers over their use of the word, one we now know it ultimately lost.

© 2009 Pamela Chestek