Never one to settle for the norm and always believing there is a better way, creative pioneer Aleene Jackson’s determination and demand for superior quality prompted the creation of an adhesive that fueled the crafting industry and has been the glue holding it together since the 1950s.

The Original Tacky Glue creator, crafting industry trailblazer and educator began her career in the 1950s as a florist, working in a hotel flower shop before purchasing her own at the age of 20. After a few short years, Aleene grew her business into a floral supply store, where she also taught classes on flower making, floral arrangements and more. Always one step ahead with a business-savvy nature, it didn’t take Aleene long to make a name for herself in the floral industry, between weekly television appearances showcasing how to make floral crafts, stories in publications and classes at her shop that attracted people from all over.

There was only one problem: Aleene needed a thick glue that could not only hold her floral arrangements together, but last as well. And because she couldn’t find one that met her expectations, Aleene created “Glue d’Aleene,” which she began using in her classes. The tacky white glue became so popular that she started bottling and selling it, eventually modifying the name to “Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue.” She chose the gold bottle that is still used today to reflect the premium quality of its contents – the gold standard of adhesives – which has been the glue of choice for generations of crafters, hobbyists and households since its inception.

From that first gold bottle of Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue to today’s variety of more than 60 unique adhesive options, every Aleene’s product is formulated to deliver premium quality and performance that loyal Aleene’s consumers expect and rely upon.

From our family to your family … for all of life’s creative moments.

A History of Quality

Since the 1950s, Aleene’s has been making memories last with its line of premium-quality adhesives. What started out as one glue is today a variety of more than 60 adhesives.

The Gold Standard

Aleene's® Original Tacky Glue® in the distinctive, classic Gold Bottle has provided crafters and hobbyists with a premium-quality, dependable adhesive for 50 years.

We Value Your Feedback

We stand behind the quality of our adhesives. If for any reason you are not satisfied with the performance of one of our glues, let us know! Contact our Customer Loyalty Team here.

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  Aleene arrives!

  1924

  Here's the earliest photo that we have found so far in the archive files. Aleene Jackson was born January 20, 1924 so we think that this photo was taken in mid-1925 with her mother Vera.

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  The marriage

  1942

  Here are pictures of Mom and Dad around the time they married in 1942. Mom would have been around 18 and Dad would have been around 20 years old.

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  Where the business started!

  1944

  

  LADIES AND GENTLEMEN . . . drum-roll please . . . where it all began . . . this is Mom's Seller's Permit dated 7-31-44. This would have been the date that she officially opened her first business - Arcadia Florist in Arcadia, California. She was 20 years old

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  Baby Candace arrives!

  1944

  

  Here's a great 4 generation photo taken in May 1947 of baby Candace at 4 months along with Great Grandmother Nettie Alice Evans Jackson, Vera Jackson and Aleene.

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  Family

  1948

  

  THE EARLY YEARS . . .This photo was taken in July 1948 after the birth of our brother Fred. Candace is the toddler and that handsome man - he's our wonderful father, Woody Hershman. Not much was shared in print about Dad over the years. He was a behind-the scenes kinda guy. He was responsible for all the early family photos and he handled all the art layout and printing for the early-years Aleene's instruction sheets, newsletters and books.

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  Aleene's Make Your Own Corsage Kit

  1949

  

  On Friday April 1, 1949, this ad ran in the Los Angeles Examiner announcing that the Aleene's Make Your Own Corsage Kit was available for purchase at Bullock's Downtown (Los Angeles).

  The kit included everything that you needed to make 25 corsages including: "gay ribbons, floratape, corsage pins, wax paper, wire...a whole kit to give you fun and pleasing results. The kit sold for $2.95.

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  Aleene's Floral Supply new store!

  1950

  

  OK - we're going to try to build the timeline for you of the Aleene's business. As we shared, Aleene started her first business in 1944 at the age of 19, a florist shop, located in Arcadia, California. Her first child, Candace was born in January of 1947 and Aleene decided shortly thereafter that she needed to close the florist shop. She started teaching flower arranging classes out of her home. As the class attendance grew, so did the number of delivery trucks and her neighbors soon grew weary of the constant stream of trucks delivering flower making supplies.

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  Aleene's Wood Fibre - the history

  1950

  

  While the earliest wood fibre instructions we find in the Aleene's archives are dated 1951, it wasn't until the August 1954 issue of The Petal Pusher, the official newsletter of Aleene’s Dealers, that the first full article appeared that offered the “first in a series of educational articles designed to acquaint the floral enthusiast with the many materials used in floral designing. Here is the story of how Wood Fibre was made reprinted in its original entirety from The Petal Pusher image posted to the right:

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  The start of Aleene's television career

  1951

  Sometime around 1951, Aleene got the idea to go on television with her "Make Your Own Corsage" kits. She had first learned about television in 1942 when she had seen it being previewed at the old Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard.

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  Aleene on KTTV - HIA Television

  1952

  We're not sure of the exact dates, but based on Aleene's hairstyles in other photos at this time, in about 1952 Aleene became involved with helping book hobby model guests for segments on a show hosted by Dick Whittinghill on KTTV in Los Angeles.

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  Aleene's Fibre & Floral Supply Co. New Location Grand Opening

  1952

  

  In November 1952, Aleene's opened their new location in Temple City California. For this event, Aleene arranged for searchlights and television coverage. It was quite an event for this community.

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  Rose Parade Television Coverage

  1953

  On New Years Day 1953, Aleene joined Ray Maypole (KTTV) for color commentary of the line-up of Rose Parade floats. Aleene described for the viewing audience, the various floral decorations on the floats lined up on Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena, California.

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  Life Magazine

  1953

  1953 started off with a bang for Aleene when her business was featured in the January 5, 1953 issue of Life Magazine. The entire issue was devoted to the American Economy and Aleene's Fibre & Floral Supply Company was featured in this issue.

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  Aleene on Al Jarvis TV Show

  1955

  

  Aleene & Betty White on the Al Jarvis Show (1954) Why does this photo look like this? It is a photograph of the image on the actual television set of the era!

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  The Petal Pusher Newsletter

  1955

  In 1955, a monthly newsletter called The Petal Pusher served as the source of information for the Aleene's customers. The topic of the time was fresh vs artificial flowers and encouraging words were given to the students to "be as proud to display the exquisitely hand fashioned flowers from wood fibre in your home, as you would be to display an original painting, for both have been created by artists."

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  Aleene on Art Linkletter TV Show

  1962

  In the early 1960's, Aleene's popularity grew and she continued to make regular television appearances on top national daytime talk shows of the time. Here she is pictured with her signature wood fibre flowers which she demonstrated on the Art Linkletter Show (CBS).

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  Aleene on Tennessee Ernie Ford TV Show

  1965

  It was after Aleene had been in the world of television for awhile that that she had enough "gumption" to approach Tennessee Ernie Ford, who at the time had one of the most popular shows on national TV (The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show 1962-1965).

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  Aleene on Tom Frandsen FYI TV Show

  1967

  

  Then came the Tom Frandsen FYI show on NBC in 1967. Tom insisted that Aleene become a regular show on his popular program. It was through Tom's show that the Aleene's Craft Caravan got so much exposure and helped to draw more than 20,000 to that first event. During the time that Aleene made her weekly appearances on The Tom Frandsen Show, she met lots of really interesting guests such as Lorne Green, who was the star of "Bonanza."

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  The Aleene's Craftmaker's Caravan

  1968

  "I don't know what inspired me to come up with the idea for a Craftmaker's Caravan, but like most good ideas, it was the follow-through that made it a great success, both for us [the Aleene's business] and for the crafts industry as a whole."

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  The Aleene's Craftmaker's Caravan

  1972

  

  Mom recalls that on her first appearance on the Dinah Shore show,
  there was also a first-time guest for Dinah. His name was Burt Reynolds.

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  Aleene's Creative Living Television broadcast on TV

  1985

  

  Aleene's Creative Living Television broadcast on TLC, Lifetime and TNN (The Nashville Network) for over 15 years and was TNN's top-rated daytime show.

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  Aleene’s Creative Living Magazine was a top-rated monthly print craft magazine with over 350,000 monthly newsstand and subscriber circulation

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  The Aleene’s on-line museum features photos and content documenting the rich history of this trailblazer and her family. Aleene’s daughters, Tiffany Windsor and Heidi Borchers, continue in their mother’s footsteps sharing their creatively-rich history, experience, passion and enthusiasm with today’s contemporary crafter.

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  Aleene celebrated her 90th birthday and was inducted into the CHA Hall of Fame.

  2014

  In 2015 the pioneer of crafts and inventor of Tacky Glue passed away, but her legacy and amazing brand of Adhesives lives on. Today you can still find her favorites in retailers across North America.

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  Aleene's Original Tacky Glue has been inducted into The Association for Creative Industries Product Hall of Fame.

  2021

  The Association for Creative Industries (AFCI) inducts Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue into its first-ever Product Hall of Fame, along with Crayola® Crayons and Mod Podge®. These historic brands are honored for inspiring creative expression and maintaining popularity among generations of creators over a sustained period of time.