An
Accidental Invention:
It would be really
fascinating to know that the cardboard we use today was created accidentally in
the early 1800s. Robert Gair was a Scottish immigrant who ran a factory. One of
his operators accidentally cut down the seed bags, instead of creasing, in
Gair's Brooklyn paper-bag and printing company. This led to the creation of
folding cardboard boxes. Gair thought that these paper bags should not be wasted
rather we should use them in some way. He created a folding template of a box
out of these ruined bags. Gair realized that this method can improve the
efficiency of the process and reduce the cost by cutting, printing and creasing
the boxes from a piece of cardboard. Gair's early market customers were the
Kellogg Company, Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, Lorillard TobaccoCompany and Nabisco Biscuits. He started selling his creation to these
companies to package their food items. This was the start of a new empire.
The
1800s – The Invention of Cardboard:
Thus we can say that the
first cardboard box or a paperboard box was created in 1817 in England by
Robert Gair. English played with the invention of Chinese and achieved
excellence in the packaging sector. These cardboard boxes started becoming
common when Kellogg's Company started packaging its cereal in them. The work
continued for many years. Robert Gair created an efficient cardboard box in
1879 on a commercial level. In the 1890s, corrugated packaging was also
invented. Flat pieces started to manufacture in bulk and then folded to make a
box. The die-cut and scored boxes can be stored flat for later use. Various
refinements were made in the cardboard packaging and it gave rise to the custom
cardboard boxes which we use today.
How
Cardboard Box Evolved?
Once the cardboard
packaging was created, it was started using to pack a number of products.
Corrugated cardboard was used for shipping purpose. As the corrugated cardboard
box was formed in the 1890s, its existence solved many issues regarding the
shipping and handling of items. Before the invention of cardboard, wooden
crates were used to move the things. They were heavy, expensive and difficult
to make on large scale. By 1900s, wooden crates were replaced by cardboard
boxes in most of the sectors. Then the English people thought towards
technological advancement. It took a period of three years to make a first
commercial machine to produce a large quantity of corrugated board in less
time. It was a huge invention which reduced the amount of labor. It's such an
invention which will be always appreciated.
