Bubble Wrap
Prior to identifying its niche as protective packaging, the bubble wrap inventors had hoped for it to catch on as an insulating and textured wallpaper.
Good morning! It’s a big week in REMO World. Not only is our delivery of REMORANDOM 5 landing – but also a replenishment shipment of REMO Stripey Things. By the end of the week, our Bondi garage will be chockers. In other news, I was interviewed for The Creative Common podcast last week. If you’re curious to hear what I said about “the creative power of random”, take a listen HERE.
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In 1957, Marc A. Chavannes, a Swiss chemical engineer, approached mechanical engineer Alfred W. Fielding with the concept of creating an insulating, textured wallpaper by sealing two sheets of plastic together on a paper backing. The wallpaper idea didn’t catch on, but they noticed the material had a soft, cushiony structure. After pivoting away from the wallpaper idea, their second idea was to market it as greenhouse insulation. That also fizzled.
But in 1960, they founded Sealed Air Corporation and repositioned their invention as protective packaging. It took time to convince manufacturers that their plastic product was a superior shipping material to the paper alternatives being used at the time. But, in 1963, Sealed Air salesman Frederick W. Bowers persuaded IBM to ship its sensitive new 1401 business computer using bubble wrap, making it the industry standard just as potentially delicate high-tech products were beginning to come on the market. Suddenly, bubble wrap had found its niche: protecting fragile items in transit.
In the 1980s and ’90s, bubble wrap also became a staple of office stress relief. People began popping it just for fun – so much so that Sealed Air trademarked the term “Bubble Wrap” and leaned into the recreational angle. As it happens, that closed loop of action (squeeze) and result (pop) delivers a small but potent sensory reward. These days, there’s even an app for that.
Five more things to know about bubble wrap:
Bubble Wrap: Even though the term “bubble wrap” is owned by Sealed Air, it has become a generic trademark, with diminished rights as a result of common use in the marketplace. Other examples of generic trademarks: linoleum, thermos, aspirin and air fryer.
Silent Bubble Wrap: In 2015, Sealed Air introduced a new version of the wrap called “iBubble Wrap”. It ships flat and inflates on demand, which saves enormous amounts of space. However, one major downside: the new bubbles don’t pop. This led to a brief panic among bubble wrap purists, only relieved by the fact that the regular wrap was still being produced.
Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day is celebrated on the last Monday of January each year. It began in Bloomington, Indiana in 2001 after a local radio station accidentally received a shipment wrapped entirely in bubble wrap – and devoted an entire show to popping it on-air.
Art and Design: Bubble wrap has inspired avant-garde fashion (yes, runway dresses) and installations. Also, in 2010, artist Bradley Hart began injecting paint into individual bubbles to create detailed pixel-like portraits using the wrap as his canvas.
Bubble Wrap Alternatives: Paper is making a comeback, much to the relief of the plastic reductionists. “Paper bubble wrap” consists of thick paper with a heavily embossed pattern reminiscent of bubble wrap, and “honeycomb paper” also known as “hive wrap” is made of kraft paper with parting lines allowing the paper to be stretched and thickened without breaking, giving it cushioning properties.
Finally, bubble wrap is so much a part of the culture that it is in a collection at MoMA in New York – the one inclusion that doesn’t require bubble wrapping in transit.
