What Does IBM Have To Do With Bubble Wrap? More Than You Think
Do you remember as a child when you would get a roll of bubble wrap and it could entertain you for an hour or two? When my daughter, Tara turned 1 year old, we had a little party for her at the Kattleville Athletic Association (KAA) club.
A friend of mine had extra rolls of bubble wrap and he gave some to me to use for the birthday party. It was for Tara and the rest of her very young friends but it gave me an AWESOME excuse to enjoy them too.
Everyone got a large sheet to pop as we pleased and it was a great day for everybody. It's amazing how we can get the greatest pleasure from the little things in life. I'm sure there's a life lesson in there but that can be a story for another day.
Monday, January 31st is Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day and there are many things to appreciate about it...see the above story. So how was Bubble Wrap invented? Like so many other things, it was by accident.
The Origins Of Bubble Wrap
In 1957, two engineers from Hawthorne New Jersey, Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding were trying to make a plastic wallpaper with a paper backing. It didn't work but even something better happened.
They realized that their invention (originally called Air Cap) could be used as a cushion for packaging material. In the '50s, rough paper products were used for packaging and weren't much help when it came to heavy or fragile items.
The two engineers were able to raise $9,000 for a developmental production line. They turned their invention into a bubble wrap company called Sealed Air Corporation, in 1960.
IBM And Bubble Wrap
It wasn't until a year later that its true usefulness was discovered. IBM has done so much for our area and our country and here's another example of their foresight. In 1961, IBM saw the potential that this new bubble wrap had and began using the product to protect the IBM 1401 computer during shipment.
As the saying goes, the rest was history. Today it's mostly used for food packaging and stress relief. What memories do you have when it comes to Bubble Wrap?
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