What Was the Original Purpose of Bubble Wrap?
The original purpose of the popular packing material Bubble Wrap, according to its inventors, was wallpaper.
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Unintentional Invention
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Bubble Wrap was invented in 1957 by Alfred W. Fielding and Marc Chavannes, who were trying to create a new kind of textured plastic wallpaper with a paper backing. Their original purpose for Bubble Wrap was to create a wallpaper that was easy to apply to walls with its paper backing but also easy to clean thanks to its plastic surface. Their attempts at creating this wallpaper failed, but they realized the material they had made--plastic sheets covered with tiny bubbles filled with compressed air--could be useful as a packing material because the material was flexible and able to cushion fragile objects.
Billion Dollar Business
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Fielding and Chavannes founded the Sealed Air Corporation in 1960 with Bubble Wrap as its first product. It makes a variety of types of Bubble Wraps with the different sizes of bubbles offering different levels of cushioning for packages. Today, the company generates about $4.7 billion in annual revenue.
Packing Boxes Before Bubble Wrap
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Before Bubble Wrap came along, people commonly packed fragile objects in boxes with paper products, which wasn't sufficient for protecting heavy objects or delicate ones. Bubble Wrap essentially created a new way to use plastic.
Wallpaper Today
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Today, the most common type of wallpaper is made of vinyl with a cloth backing. The vinyl is much easier to clean than paper, cloth and other textiles that are more fragile. Today's wallpaper achieves much of what Fielding and Chavannes intended with their invention, which ultimately changed the world of packaging forever.
Bubble Wrap Popularity
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People enjoy bubble wrap today as more than just packing material. Popping Bubble Wrap bubbles creates a satisfying popping sound that many people do just for fun.
Perhaps as a publicity stunt, Spirit 95.1 FM Radio in Bloomington, Indiana, started Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day in January 2001
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References
- Photo Credit Consequencefree of Wikipedia
