Timeline A potted history of packaged goods

TIMELINE

10,000 BC 2500 BC 1300

Nomadic man’s natural food packaging

Packaging started with humankind’s need to store and transport food while on the hoof. Historians believe that during our nomadic hunter-gatherer days, materials such as leaves, animal skins and gourds were used to store and transport foodstuffs.

The ancients discover glass and paper

The ancient Egyptians were the first people to discover glass-blowing technology, and to mould glass into food and water containers. In ancient China, meanwhile, paper making was discovered, and was used as a flexible packaging for medicines and loose tea.

Medievals roll out the barrel

The Middle Ages saw a rise in popularity of wooden packaging, in the shape of barrels and boxes, both for storage and transportation. Barrels were typically used for sea travel, and contained rum, dried food, and fresh water. Barrel-makers - called coopers - were highly valued tradesmen.

It may seem that today’s packaging is all about sustainability but protecting goods and keeping things fresh has been packing’s most important function - right back into prehistory.

1760-1840 1900s 1957present

Tin cans and cardboard boxes

The Industrial Revolution saw major technological advancements, fueled by a surge in new mass-produced products. For the first time food could be preserved by boiling and sealing in airtight glass containers. It’s the same method we use today, with canned foods. Tin-plated steel cans replaced glass, and cardboard boxes were also first used to transport goods such as cloth and eggs.

Paper bags and cellophane

Mass-produced paper bags were becoming commonplace for ad hoc packaging, while in the US the Kellogg brothers began using cardboard to distribute and market their cereal, from 1906. Meanwhile, in Switzerland, chemist Jacques Brandenberger was busy discovering cellophane, as he searched for a material that wouldn’t absorb liquids.

Bubble-wrap, pop-tabs and plastics

Bubble-wrap was invented in 1957 by the Sealed Air company; the pop tab was invented by Ermal Fraze of DRT Manufacturing, as a way to consume canned drinks without a tin-opener; and the bete noire of today’s packaging - plastic - was introduced as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, patented in 1973 by American chemist, Nathaniel Wyeth.