Most of us know the many advantages of corrugated cardboard shipping containers, but how many know about their history? The corrugated shipping box is over a century old, and it’s been a key player in the growth of commerce and industry throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. So how did we get here? You don’t gain the packaging expertise that we have at Air Sea Containers without knowing a little bit about packaging history, so let our experts take you on a trip down memory lane.
Humble Beginnings
The cardboard box itself has been around for nearly two hundred years. Cardboard, an extremely thick and heavy stock of paper, was first used for boxes in the early 1800s. Kellogg Cereals was one of the original popularizers of the cardboard box, which they used to sell their earliest products like Corn Flakes. However, despite its greater durability, cardboard still wasn’t tough enough to ship larger and heavier goods.
Corrugated paperboard was patented in 1856. This new material used a layer of thinly curved or “fluted” cardboard to reinforce a larger piece, making it much stronger and giving it greater resistance to pressure and impacts. The material would be refined by inventors over the next several decades until it became the durable, double-layered corrugated fiberboard we know today.
However, it took some time to realize corrugated paperboard’s full potential. It was originally used as a material for lining and reinforcing stovepipe hats due to its excellent ability to maintain its shape. Several more decades would pass before the corrugated box as we know it became a phenomenon.
The Box as We Know It
Corrugated fiberboard boxes first entered production in the 1880s. Many had previously experimented with using the material for shipping, but the game-changer was Robert Gair’s invention of the pre-cut corrugated cardboard box in 1879. Gair discovered that corrugated board could be manufactured in large pre-cut pieces that folded easily into strong and cost-effective boxes.
After Gair’s invention, it was only a short time before corrugated fiberboard boxes entered mass production. Soon after, businesses began snapping up the new boxes to replace the relatively expensive wooden crates that most goods had previously been shipped in.
Explosive Growth
It didn’t take long for the corrugated board to become one of the most important packaging materials ever created. From tea to clothing to tools to wine, virtually all businesses that shipped goods changed to corrugated cardboard packaging in the early half of the 20th century. Corrugated fiberboard’s durability, cost and ease of printing it with images and text all contributed to its popularity.
Corrugated board packaging saw particularly explosive growth in the postwar economic boom of the 1950s. America’s food producers needed to feed a rapidly expanding population, and corrugated packaging gave them the tools to create food packaging that survived cross-country shipping. Corrugated packaging played a big role in the expansion of the American supermarket and the ability to ship fresh produce over long distances—but its biggest role yet was still another half-century down the road.
Corrugated Packaging Today
In the 21st century, corrugated fiberboard has done a lot more than maintain market share. As eCommerce has exploded, the need for durable shipping materials has become greater than ever and the corrugated cardboard box has come along for the ride. Amazon has been the most visible user of the corrugated box, shipping millions of corrugated boxes around the U.S. and other countries every year. They’ve even used the boxes’ distinctive appearance as the center of some of their advertising campaigns.
Many businesses are now seeking to create targeted improvements in corrugated packaging efficiency and both Amazon and Target are now pouring research funds into improving their corrugated box designs. So, of all the great qualities of the corrugated box, this might be the greatest: its ability to be continually reinvented and adapted according to the needs of individual markets and businesses.
Air Sea Containers may not have invented the corrugated cardboard box, but we’ve definitely gotten it just about perfect. Our corrugated shipping container options include UN-rated hazmat boxes, overpack boxes for extra protection and even custom corrugated shipping boxes in a variety of styles. Give us a call at (866) 596-9448 or get a quote on your custom corrugated boxes from Air Sea today!
