Mid-Week Mini: Bubble Wrap Was Invented for Your Walls
In this week’s Mid-Week Mini Episode, we talk about the origin bubble wrap.
It’s one of those sounds you just can’t resist. That sharp little pop when you squeeze a piece of bubble wrap. It’s the world’s most popular stress reliever. But here’s the weird thing: Bubble Wrap wasn’t invented to keep your Amazon packages safe. It was originally designed… as wallpaper.
In 1957, two inventors named Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes were experimenting with textured wallpaper. They sealed two shower curtains together, trapping air bubbles inside. The idea was that people might want a funky, three-dimensional wall covering. That didn’t exactly catch on. Turns out, most people don’t want to live in a house that looks like it’s padded for astronauts or an insane asylum.
So the wallpaper idea was a bust, but Fielding and Chavannes didn’t give up. They tried to market it as greenhouse insulation, but farmers weren’t interested. It wasn’t until IBM needed a way to safely ship their new computers in the early 1960s that Bubble Wrap finally found its purpose. Suddenly, it went from failed wallpaper to the gold standard of protective packaging.
And the best part is, despite being made for shipping, Bubble Wrap’s biggest fans might just be the people who can’t resist popping it. It’s a failure that turned into a massive success — and an accidental invention that we still can’t stop playing with.
The internet says it’s true: Bubble Wrap was invented to be wallpaper.
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