You’ve been riveted by our looks into the history of shipping materials with the history of cardboard boxes and the history of tape, but let’s venture inside the box now and look at the world’s favorite packing material: bubble wrap!
When Was Bubble Wrap Invented?
Bubble wrap hasn’t been around for too long. It was invented in 1957 by two guys looking to create a 3-D plastic wallpaper (the 50s were a weird time). The wallpaper was a failure, but they did discover bubble wrap made an amazing packing material.
How is Bubble Wrap Made?
A plastic sheet gets fed into a machine and it makes it bubbly!
Why Do We Need Bubble Wrap?
Bubble wrap is a cost-effective way to ensure that fragile items stay intact during the shipping process. Simply wrapping an object in bubble wrap will keep it safe against almost anything it will face.
Perhaps most importantly though, bubble wrap is a lot of fun! Popping it can be therapeutic and always makes people happy. Cats too!
Fun Bubble Wrap Facts and Ideas
It’s amazing to think that bubble wrap was only invented 60 years ago when humans have been around for millions of years. Just look at some of the complex items that were invented before something as simple as bubble wrap.
Items Invented Before Bubble Wrap
- Golf Ball (1400)
- Battery (1799)
- Sewing Machine (1830)
- Refrigerator (1834)
- Vacuum Cleaner (1901)
- Airplane (1903)
- Mr. Potato Head (1952)
Items Invented Within a Year of Bubble Wrap
- Laser
- Hula Hoop
- White Out
- Computer Modem
- TV Remote Control
- Play-Doh