In The Beginning Within The World Of Packaging…
It was here long before we were and will continue to be so long after we are gone!
The world of packaging began way back as far as we can remember in the nomadic hunter gatherer days!
The concept of moving items from one place to another whilst keeping them safe and secure is nothing new!
It is believed that the transportation of goods originated with food stuffs being moved from the place of origin to where they needed to be.
The use of animal skins, nut shells and the like played a big part in the early years.
If you think about it, it is common sense really.
FACTS:
It was in Ancient Egypt where glass blowing was discovered which created storage containers for food and water.
Ancient China is known for the invention of flexible packaging. Starting off with the use of mulberry bark and later leading them to perfecting the art of paper making techniques.
Then there was the Middle Ages which saw a rise in the use of wooden receptacles being used for storage and transportation. AKA wooden barrels! No prizes for guessing what they were used to transport!
Moving onto the Industrial Revolution Packaging where materials were very expensive and used more for storage and transportation of luxury goods.
The year 1810 an Englishman called Peter Durand patented the use of tin-coated iron cans for use instead of bottles. This proved incredibly successful, as we all know!
Did you know that the first cardboard box was invented in 1817 — despite cardboard being around for several hundred years!
Despite paper bags being around since 1844 it was not until 1852 when Francis Wolle invented a machine capable of mass producing paper bags!
The first carton was invented in 1979 and was discovered purely by accident! A malfunction on the production line gave way to this amazing invention.
Any guesses for when the first cereal box was put to use and who done it…………… It was non other than The Kellogg Brothers in 1906! Bet you all got that one!
The journey continues to grow down the generations and the one that always makes us laugh is the invention of bubble wrap. The original idea was, of course, for this commodity to be uses as wallpaper — epic fail! BUT. What a triumph in the end!
The invention of the Pop Tab (we all use this on our cans of fizzy drinks) was initially born in 1959 — although it has been modified. This was patented originally by Ermal Fraze and modified 1977 and still used to this day!
The invention of PET Plastic Bottles was 1973 and was/is highly used as a cheeper alternative to glass bottles.
HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED
As we all know with the increase use of these materials brings with it an increase in waste. Today the thought process behind our packaging has changed, for the better.
We now take these genius ideas, make a more user friendly version which can be disposed of and recycled more readily.
Packaging has been and always will be an essential part of our daily life.
Just sit back, take a look around your and see how many items you have, on your desk, around the house, that all need some form of packaging to get to you safe and sound! You will be amazed when the numbers start to add up.
The priority now has to be the effect our packaging has on:-
A) The design for the task in hand and making sure of a safe and secure delivery of goods.
B) The effect on the environment and steps must be taken by us all to ensure safe recycling flows smoothly.
Come and visit us for all your postal packaging solutions and check out our detailed environmental policy.
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Chat soon folks, enjoy the rest of your week.
From all here at Poly Postal Packaging Ltd.
