Today we want to tell you several curiosities of our main material: THE CARDBOARD.
Do you know what the word cardboard means? It means “very thick paper” and comes from the augmentative suffix -on on the word “letter” and this from the Greek kharthes = “sheet of papyrus prepared to write on it”.
The origin of cardboard dates back to China around the year 105. During a battle in the 8th century, the Arabs found it by mistake and by taking some samples to examine it more carefully they contributed, perhaps without thinking, to its spread for more continents.
China believed it, but it was in the United Kingdom where it was perfected. In 1890 Robert Gair built the first cardboard box, forever changing the packaging system. He demonstrated that it was not necessary to spend large sums of money on wooden structures to protect merchandise, replacing them with a material that provides greater strength and flexibility.
Like more anecdotes and curiosities of the cardboard, did you know that in Finland babies sleep in cardboard boxes? Since the 1930s, all pregnant women have received a very special cardboard box from the State: it is a package with clothes, sheets, diapers and toys for the baby to be born and which they also use as a cradle for the first months. This tradition began in 1938, when the country had a very high infant mortality rate and as a strategy to prevent these deaths, the boxes began to be given away if mothers underwent medical checks and, in this way, helped to control their own mothers’ health and drastically decrease infant mortality.
At Papelsa we also support and take care of the lives of our babies. Together with the Santi un milagro de vida Foundation, the ECOCUNA was developed: Cradle made of corrugated cardboard at the Papelsa Barbosa plant, where through this and the training of mothers to prevent the death of minors during their first six months of life, we support the most vulnerable families in society, giving away this important resource free of charge.
Did you know the regatta with cardboard boats? At Southern Illinois University, in an entertaining test of creativity and problem-solving skills. The goal is simple: design and build a complete corrugated cardboard boat that can traverse a 180-meter path.
At Papelsa we love to see how cardboard is used in different parts of the world, how its value is enhanced and it is given different uses. It is to admire the way this university reuses it allowing learning and fun.
Did you know that one of the most used toys in the world is the cardboard box. This recognition of the most versatile toy in the world led to it being inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in the United States in 2005. Despite technological advances, the little ones continue to have fun with cardboard boxes, imagining a whole world around him, making toys, costumes, and crafts. It has always been an entertaining activity that never goes out of style.
Did you know that the Kellogg’s brand was one of the first companies to use cardboard boxes to protect their product and develop packaging as a marketing tool? In 1906 it was a revolution in the food sector, since containers such as bottles and cans were used that did not guarantee the freshness or hygiene of the product and, in addition, they were very expensive. Cardboard and packaging development has allowed the brand to take advantage of its packaging as a support for brand identity and the product itself.
If you have doubts about how to apply the best packaging for your product, from Papelsa we can advise you, designing and manufacturing innovative cardboard packaging, where in addition to containing, protecting and identifying, we can better display the products, make them more visible at the points of sale, transmitting messages of sustainability and responsibility.
There are many anecdotes and curiosities that we could continue to tell about this noble material, cardboard has proven to be one of the most versatile forms of packaging that allows us to meet different requirements at a commercial level, while allowing us to be creative with many uses.