Cardboard boxes are omnipresent in our day to day life. Sometimes we use them for shipping items, sometimes for storing items and sometimes for DIY essentials. Packaging boxes are an integral part of modern society. We cannot imagine our life without these boxes and in this era of internet, where eCommerce business is becoming a trend, packaging boxes have a major role to play. The packaging boxes of today are beneficial in so many ways to us and to our environment. First of all, they are strong, sturdy, robust and durable and these characteristics in a cardboard box are required for a safe shipping and transit of the items. They are ideal for small and lightweight items, heavy, bulky and large items, strong and fragile items. Secondly, since they are strong and durable, they are long-lasting which means that one can use them for multiple purposes, such as, for storing items and for decorating the houses.
Apart from that these boxes are made up of raw materials which are reusable, recyclable, sustainable, biodegradable and compostable in nature. These characteristics define the eco-friendly nature of the cardboard box, hence, they play a great role in reducing the carbon footprint, garbage waste and pollution from the environment.
In this article we shall be looking at the history of packaging boxes made up of cardboard. It is a brief history in which we will be focusing on the origin and evolution of these boxes. Whether it is a normal cardboard box for packing items for shifting to a new place, or a jewellery box or a wardrobe box, in different forms these boxes help us in so many ways. If you are looking for cheap cardboard boxes which are strong, durable and eco-friendly, you can easily get them from your nearby stores selling different packaging products, or freely from the retail stores or from different websites such as Packaging Midlands selling these boxes at a wholesale rate.
Let us now have a look at the origin and evolution of these boxes.
The Origin of Cardboard
When we are speaking about the cardboard box, its origin and history, it is important for us to know the history and origin of the material itself, that is, cardboard. It is a sturdy and versatile material, which people have been using for centuries now. But the actual predecessor of the present day cardboard box is paperboard. The origin of the paperboard can be traced back to ancient China. The Chinese people invented paper around the 2nd century BCE and by the era of 3rd century BCE they were using paper for creating rudimentary containers.
Cardboards started to emerge by the 19th century. It was Sir Malcom Thornill from London who patented the process for making a single faced board by using multiple sheets of paper glued together. This is the first step in developing the cardboards as packaging supplies.
The Origin of Cardboard Box
Sir Henry Cole, an Englishman is considered to be the true pioneer of the cardboard box. He introduced a self-assembled cardboard box in the year 1817. It is this creation which further laid the foundation of the modern day cardboard box. The cardboard box manufactured by Cole is sturdy and easily foldable. However, it was only during the 19th century that cardboard box became widespread and people started earnestly adopting it. In the year 1856, an American named Albert Jones patented a machine responsible for cutting and creasing the packaging boxes into different shapes. This invention led to a significant reduction in the cost of packaging boxes. Hence, these boxes were then easily accessible and affordable. After that in 1871, Jones set up and patented another machine for manufacturing these boxes in mass. This brought a revolution in the packaging industry.
The Evolution of Cardboard Box
Cardboard box has evolved a lot since then. It has come a long way and is still helping us in so many ways. Whereas in the 19th century we had corrugated boxes for strength and durability, the 20th century saw these boxes getting a standardised size for simplifying the packaging and shipping processes. In the modern era, packaging boxes are accessible for printing and branding, thus, indicating that they are now customisable in nature. Keeping in mind the climatic changes which are taking place in the world, the modern day packaging boxes are recyclable and sustainable as well. Now these packaging materials are immensely used in the ecOmmerce businesses, hence, they are flexible, available in different shapes and sizes and can be used for all the products, ranging from food items to fragile items.
