Bubble Wrap is now a familiar way to protect fragile packages, but that was not the original plan. Its creators first tried to make a textured plastic wallpaper.
## A wallpaper experiment In 1957, engineers Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes sealed two shower curtains together, trapping pockets of air between them. The result had a distinctive bumpy surface. They imagined it as a modern kind of wallpaper, but the idea did not catch on as they had hoped.
## Finding a new purpose The inventors then explored other uses for their material, including greenhouse insulation. Eventually, its cushioning air pockets proved useful for protecting delicate items in transit. IBM helped popularize it as packaging when the company shipped its computers in the material in the early 1960s.
A change in direction turned an unsuccessful decorating idea into a packaging staple. The familiar name is a trademark of Sealed Air, the company associated with the material’s development and commercial use.
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