Time can’t burst Bubble Wrap’s pop-ularity

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By Sharon Short, Contributing Writer 4:59 PM Friday, January 29, 2010

Just before sitting down to write this column, I unwrapped a new soy candle.

I almost always write with a lit candle — not to save electricity, mind you, since I also use electric lights — but because when I start to lose focus or get anxious about what I’m writing, gazing at a lit candle is quite soothing. Of course, this doesn’t apply if I’m writing in a coffee shop ...

But I digress. (Brief pause to stare at candle flame.)

Because this column is really about the Bubble Wrap in which the candle was ensconced. I received this particular batch of candles for Christmas, and the candles were shipped in tight Bubble Wrap cocoons.

Did I pop all the bubbles in the Bubble Wrap before lighting that candle and starting this column? You bet I did!

And while doing so, I thought a bit about the fact Bubble Wrap turns 50 this year.

Well, the Bubble Wrap brand — produced by Sealed Air — turns 50. It was actually invented in 1957 when, according to an AP report, a New York designer approached two inventors about making textured wallpaper. What they came up with flopped as wallpaper, but eventually became what we know, love and invariably pop.

My guess is it took three years before the inventors could pull themselves away from the addicting popping to realize the material wouldn’t do as wallpaper — everyone would pop it!—but that it would be great as shipping material.

Now, also while popping the bubbles of my candle’s little Bubble Wrap blankie, my mind wandered. (After all, the candle wasn’t lit yet.) I started thinking about another recently popular article topic: all the inventions that seemed so important at the beginning of the decade, that now seem obsolete (or close to it.)

One such article on the Huffington Post included a few items that I have to admit have become obsolete for me: fax machines, catalogs and dial-up Internet. It also included a few items that probably are mostly obsolete but that I personally don’t want to let go of: handwritten letters, CDs and calling people (rather than texting, e-mailing or social networking.)

And one item just made me laugh: wires. Because everything is wireless. Oh really? I have a wireless mouse, keyboard and speakers on my computer — and a whole nest of tangled wires at my feet...

(Look at candle! Re-focus!)

Anyway, thinking of the things that went obsolete over just the past 10 years led me to wonder ... why is Bubble Wrap anything but obsolete?

Is it because no one has come up with a more efficient shipping material? In 50 years?

Nah, that can’t be it.

I think it is because there is just something so satisfying about popping those bubbles. It’s a way of relieving stress or venting frustration that is completely safe and harmless. (Unless you’re the Bubble Wrap itself.)

So maybe the inventions that last the longest are those that go just beyond a practical function, and appeal to something deeper within us.

Like candles. (Hmmm. Guess this column is sort of about candles, after all.)

Not the most efficient way to light a room in a long, long time.

But people still love candles — invented around 3000 BC — and light them. Must be something about that soothing, focusing, steady light ...

If Bubble Wrap ever does become obsolete, I’ll just light a candle in its honor.

Send e-mail to sharonshort@ sharonshort.com.

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Too bad they don't fill the bubble wrap with Helium instead of just air. Let's see, 1000 cu. ft. of Helium will lift 62 lbs., might just cut down on shipping weight costs. Just think, if you were shipping loans, it would be easier to "float a loan!" so much different than "balloon boy" because people were afraid that he was floating alone! All the fun it would be popping all those Helium filled bubbles!

Thomas D. Porter
7:07 PM, 1/31/2010

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Hello Sharon,I just read your column and I have to admit that I too just love bubble wrap. When-ever a package arrives I put claims on the bubble wrap .LOL!! Its all MINE! I can't wait to start busting those little bubbles and the big ones are just as fun! My best friend knows how much that I love to bust bubble wrap,one day he brought me a large box of them.It was like my birthday!LOL! Thanks,Sarah E.

Sarah E.
8:02 PM, 1/29/2010

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