Bubble Wrap (brand)

History

Bubble wrap was invented in 1957 by engineers Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes in Hawthorne, New Jersey. Fielding and Chavannes sealed two shower curtains together, creating a smattering of air bubbles, which they originally tried to sell as wallpaper. When the product turned out to be unsuccessful as wallpaper, the team sold it as greenhouse insulation.

Although Bubble Wrap was branded by Sealed Air Corporation (founded by Fielding and Chavannes) in 1960, it was not until a year later (1961) that its usefulness in protective usage was discovered. As a packaging material, Bubble Wrap's first client was IBM, which used the product to protect the IBM 1401 computer during shipment. Fielding and Chavannes were inducted into the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame in 1993. Sealed Air celebrated Bubble Wrap's 50th birthday in January 2010.

Uses

The Annual Bubble Wrap Competition For Young Inventors was hosted by Sealed Air from 2006 to 2008, in which children were encouraged to design products made out of bubble wrap that had uses outside of the packaging industry. Inventions included a "Bubble Wrap Car Door Cover", a "Bubble Wrap Cushy Wheelchair", and "Transformable Bubble Wrap Kite".

Popping Bubble Wrap is sometimes used as stress-relief, and Sealed Air's corporate offices have "stress relief boxes" that are filled with Bubble Wrap for the employees to pop.

References

References

1. "Bubble Wrap Brand Cushioning Facts & Figures". Sealed Air Corporation.
2. (22 May 2002). "Inflatable version of Bubble Wrap". FoodProductionDaily.com.
3. (18 December 2006). "Sealed Air Selects 10 Semi-Finalists in Inaugural Bubble Wrap Competition for Young Inventors". [[Business Wire]].
4. "Form 10-K (2012)". Securities and Exchange Commission.
5. Michael Burke. (16 October 2013). "Sealed Air CEO sees higher profits in next three years". Journal Times.
6. Burke, Monte. (5 August 2006). "Wrap Star". Forbes.
7. Fernandez, Don. (27 December 2004). "Betcha can't pop just one". Toronto Star.
8. (24 January 2010). "Bubble Wrap celebrating its 50th birthday". NBC News.
9. (24 November 2008). "Sealed Air Announces Fifteen Semi-Finalists in Third Annual Bubble Wrap Competition For Young Inventors – International Business Times -". [[International Business Times]].
10. Newmarker, Chris. (25 November 2007). "Young inventors get creative in Bubble Wrap contest". [[Spartanburg Herald-Journal]].
11. Fernandez, Don. (24 December 2004). "Bubble Wrap: A pop-culture sensation that packs endless pleasure". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
12. Loeffler, William. (23 January 2009). "Bubble wrap is a pop-culture phenomenon". [[Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]].