International Box Day

Boxes aren’t really anything to be thrilled about – unless you own a cat. Although I must say that I ran into an article that suggested that in 2005, a corrugated box was included in the National Toy Hall of Fame. Sounds like us humans can also be easily amused. In addition to using them for toys, boxes are very practical and often times come in handy.

We use them to store things, to help us on moving-day, and to ship a gift to a special someone to name a few. And these are just for in-home use. Now think about businesses. Where would our world be without them? How would products like food, beverages, shoes, books, electronics and cleaning supplies be packaged and/or transported? But who had this wonderful ground-breaking idea? Now, stay with me so we can unwrap some facts about corrugated boxes on International Box Day.

The first ever box was invented in England back in 1817. This was not a corrugated box though – just a plain paperboard box. Malcom Thornhill decided to use single sheets of thick paper and created said box. Years after that, a very popular cereal company started using them to package their product, which helped this type of box become mainstream. In 1856, corrugated paper was patented and used as a liner in hats, but no corrugated boxes yet.

It wasn’t until 1871 that the corrugated box was born. The packaging industry started using it for shipping purposes. Three years later, the first machine to produce large quantities of them was invented. But the innovation did not stop there.  Pre-cut boxes were created in 1890 and it did not take long for corrugated boxes to come to this side of the world.

How can you celebrate International Box Day? Give your local sales representative a call and ask them what Nichols can do for the safe shipment of your products.