Why Bubble Wrap Was Invented as Wallpaper

Why Bubble Wrap Was Invented as Wallpaper In 1957, two engineers in a garage in Hawthorne, New Jersey tried to invent a futuristic textured wallpaper by sealing two layers of clear shower curtain together with trapped air bubbles between them. Almost nobody bought it. So they tried again, pitching the same material as greenhouse insulation. Farmers ignored it, the plastic degraded under ultraviolet light, and the panels collapsed under snow load. Then in 1959, IBM announced the 1401 mainframe computer, roughly the size of a refrigerator, and needed a way to ship thousands of fragile units across the country. A marketer at Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes' new company, Sealed Air, pitched the wallpaper as packaging. IBM signed on. Within months, every 1401 in America was protected by a material originally meant to hang on your living room wall. This is the strange three-act story behind one of the most iconic everyday objects on Earth. The original 1957 patent still describes the manufacturing process used in every roll today: two sheets of polyethylene, one with embossed air pockets, fused together by heat. Sealed Air went public in 1971 and is now a multi-billion dollar company. The product itself never really changed. Only the purpose did. Chapters: 0:00 The Garage Mistake 0:19 Reason 1: Wallpaper Dream 0:51 Reason 2: Greenhouse Pivot 1:25 Reason 3: IBM 1401 2:08 Multi-Billion Patent Topics covered: bubble wrap history, Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes, Sealed Air Corporation, IBM 1401 mainframe, accidental inventions, 1950s product design, plastic packaging history, polyethylene manufacturing, failed wallpaper, greenhouse insulation history, pivot stories, business history, why bubble wrap was invented, original 1957 patent, everyday object origins. Sources: U.S. Patent 3,142,599 (1964 grant, 1957 application); Sealed Air Corporation corporate filings; IBM 1401 launch press materials (1959); contemporary press coverage of Sealed Air's early commercial history. If you like everyday objects with hidden histories, hit subscribe. Daily uploads on the things you use, eat, and pop without thinking about. #bubblewrap #invention #history #sealedair #ibm1401 #packaging #1950s #everydaythings