Bubble wrap

Bubble wrap is a sheet of plastic covered in small trapped air pockets, used to protect fragile things in the post. It was invented in 1957 by two engineers in New Jersey, Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes, who sealed two shower curtains together to trap air bubbles. They were trying to make a textured wallpaper.^[1] The wallpaper did not sell. It is the only home-decorating product to have succeeded entirely by being thrown in a box.

Second and third attempts

After the wallpaper failed, the inventors tried selling the material as insulation for greenhouses. That did not take off either. Only in the early 1960s was it found to be ideal for protecting delicate equipment during shipping, at which point it became one of the most successful packaging materials in history.^[2]

• 1957: wallpaper (no).
• Next: greenhouse insulation (no).
• Then: packaging (yes).
• Always: popping (yes).

Popping

Popping bubble wrap is so popular that there is an unofficial Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, on the last Monday in January. The sound is made by the trapped air bursting out through the plastic. Each sheet contains a large but finite number of pops, so a single roll of bubble wrap is one of the few things that can be used up entirely by people with time on their hands.

See also

• Bubble – one of many on a sheet
• Wall – where it was meant to go
• Monday – its day of appreciation

References

1. Curtain, S. (1957/2007). Two Shower Curtains. Fictional reprint.
2. Parcel, P. (2001). “Third Time Lucky”. Packaging History 3: 1.
3. Pop, P. (2014). Pop. Pop.