Pursue the evolution of packaging function and form (4)

5. The development of commercial circulation - the formation of packaging industry

With the advancement of human science and technology, especially after the European industrial revolution, commercial circulation has been greatly developed. The emergence of ocean transportation and railway transportation, and the subsequent development of highways and air transport have expanded the scope of commodity circulation. world. In this situation, packaging must be formed in order to meet the needs of commodity circulation and the changing sales methods.

British Lipton tea packaging is recognized as a pioneer of modern packaging. China’s tea was passed to the United Kingdom in the latter part of the 17th century. Once passed down, it immediately became a luxury for the nobles, upper classes and rich people. Drinking black tea from China became a noble fashion. However, because China is a long way and difficult to transport, some people suggested planting tea in the British territory of India. In 1823, people accidentally discovered naturally grown tea in the northeast of India. As a result, Indian tea was shipped back to Britain through the East India Company. The price of tea became cheaper and the general public had the ability to purchase it. At that time, London's tea traders tried every means to promote the general public to buy.

Lipton teamakers borrowed experience from selling hams, bacon, butter, eggs, etc., on the market to facilitate sales. At that time, there were three shillings per pound of tea, which was still somewhat expensive for the average family who had only about two pounds a week. As a result, they divided the tea into one-pound, half-pound, and one-quarter-pound bags and used uniformly designed bags. The Lipton trademark was highlighted on the packaging, and the slogan “From Tea Plantation Directly to Tea Bottle” was used. This packaging facilitates consumer purchases and establishes a good brand image, quickly gaining consumer acceptance and achieving sales success. Before 1900, most of the tea was still sold in bulk, but during the period 1900-1914, most of the goods in British grocery stores were not sold in bulk and basically had their own packaging.

In 1860, American Emerson wrote the book Life Guide, an earlier book on the packaging of goods. In this book, he mentioned that at the time merchants had noticed that there was a problem of damage to the goods during the transportation process, and that they had produced packages that protected the safety of the goods.

At the end of the 19th century, the railroad transportation through the United States led the commercial development along the entire railway. The railway also became the main means of commercial circulation between the eastern and western regions of the United States. In 1871, American Jones applied for the invention patent of corrugated paper.

Corrugated paper is lightweight, low-cost, has good protection, is easy to mold, and is foldable. Storage and transportation costs are very low. At the beginning of the 20th century, corrugated packaging incited the traditional dominance of the wooden box packaging industry. The wooden box industry was forced to join the railway sector and imposed stringent restrictions on the use of corrugated boxes. As a result, at the moment of survival, corrugated box manufacturers were united. Unanimously appealed to the law, after arduous lawsuits, and ultimately won the victory, this is the famous Los Angeles "Predham case" in the history of packaging development, which played a good role in promoting the healthy development of the packaging industry.

After the industrial revolution, machine-based large-scale production gradually replaced traditional hand-workshops. The application of packaging machinery has made packaging more standardized and standardized, and countries have successively formulated packaging industry standards to facilitate packaging operations in all aspects of production and circulation. The packaging industry now has developed into a packaging industry integrating packaging materials, packaging machinery, packaging production and packaging design in various industrialized countries. At present, the packaging industry has become the third largest industry in the United States, and its share in the national economy has also increased year by year.

(to be continued)