# Bubble Wrap was supposed to become wallpaper, not packaging > In 1957, American engineers Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes were working on a project that, at first glance, had nothing to do - Author: Maxime Marquette - Publisher: MadMax (https://mad-max.co) - Section: Analysis - Published: 2026-07-07 - Canonical URL: https://mad-max.co/en/article/le-papier-bulle-devait-devenir-du-papier-peint-pas-un-emballage ## Key takeaways - In 1957, Fielding and Chavannes sealed two plastic shower curtains together to make embossed wallpaper, which homeowners of the era did not embrace. - They then marketed the material as greenhouse insulation, but farmers had cheaper, established options and rejected it. - In 1959, they offered it as protective packaging for fragile equipment, notably computers from IBM, and manufacturers responded favorably. - The article explains that the trapped air pockets absorb shocks and vibrations, which is why the material remains widely used in logistics and online retail. - The author presents the story as a lesson that products often find their true use through trial and error, and that inventors should explore several applications before concluding an idea has failed. ## Introduction: a failed invention that would nonetheless succeed ### Two engineers, one idea for wall decoration In **1957**, American engineers **Alfred Fielding** and **Marc Chavannes** were working on a project that, at first glance, had nothing to do with the industrial packaging we know today. Their original idea was to create a **textured, embossed wallpaper**, a decorative innovation meant to appeal to consumers looking for an original wall covering for their homes at the time. To bring this idea to life, the two **inventors** used a rather unexpected method: they sealed two **plastic shower curtains** together, creating small **air bubbles** trapped between the two layers of material. The visual result did evoke a textured relief, but its appearance failed to convince the interior decoration market that the project had originally targeted, since homeowners of the era generally preferred fabric-based or patterned wall coverings over anything resembling **plastic sheeting**. ### A resounding commercial failure in its original field The product, marketed as an **innovative wallpaper**, found no **commercial success** among consumers of the era, who saw it only as an unattractive plastic covering poorly suited to the decorating trends then popular in American homes. This first commercial attempt therefore ended in near-total **failure** in the market the two engineers had originally targeted. *There's something rather amusing about picturing these two inventors, convinced they were about to revolutionize wall decor, with no idea that they had actually just created one of the most widely used packaging materials in modern industrial history.* Far from discouraging them, this initial failure pushed them to explore other potential uses for their invention. ## A second attempt, equally unsuccessful ### Greenhouse insulation, another lost bet After the failure of their **textured wallpaper** project, **Fielding** and **Chavannes** did not abandon their invention. They next tried to market it as a **thermal insulation material for agricultural greenhouses**, betting on the insulating properties of the air bubbles trapped between the plastic layers to protect crops from the cold. This second commercial attempt also failed to find the success the inventors had hoped for among the **farmers** of the time, who already had access to more suitable and less expensive **insulation solutions** for effectively protecting their crops from seasonal **weather changes**. Established greenhouse operators saw little reason to switch to an unproven plastic sheet when their existing methods, however unglamorous, already did the job reliably enough. ### Persevering through two consecutive failures Faced with this second commercial setback, many inventors would probably have given up on their project, concluding that the material they had developed would simply never find a viable commercial application. **Fielding** and **Chavannes** nonetheless kept searching for a relevant use for their invention, convinced that its particular physical properties had to match some industrial need not yet identified at the time. This persistence illustrates a quality often cited among **successful inventors**: the **ability to persevere** despite repeated commercial failures, actively seeking new **outlets** for an innovation whose real potential the market had not yet fully recognized. *There is a rare kind of humility in this quiet tenacity, the humility of continuing to believe in an idea even after two separate markets have just rejected it completely.* ## The IBM breakthrough: a third use finally succeeds ### A decisive encounter with the nascent computer industry In **1959**, the two inventors had the idea that would finally turn their invention into a resounding commercial success: offering their material as a **protective packaging solution** for fragile equipment, notably computers produced by the firm **IBM**, then rapidly expanding into the emerging market for professional computing. This third attempt immediately found a favorable response among **manufacturers**, who were specifically looking for an **economical solution** that could effectively protect their fragile electronic equipment during shipping, a logistical need growing quickly alongside the rapid rise of the computer industry during this period. Unlike the wallpaper and greenhouse markets, this new industrial buyer cared far less about appearance and far more about **reliable cushioning** at a reasonable cost. ### The official birth of the Bubble Wrap brand It was this commercial success with **IBM** that finally gave the product its true industrial calling, under the commercial name **Bubble Wrap**, which has today become an almost generic term for this type of protective material in many English-speaking countries. This complete reorientation, from failed wallpaper to indispensable industrial packaging, remains one of the most striking examples of a successful commercial pivot in the history of twentieth-century inventions. This success quickly led to the creation of a company dedicated to manufacturing and marketing this material, which would go on to grow steadily over the following decades, driven by the widespread rise of commerce in fragile goods requiring reliable and affordable protective packaging. ## How this beloved material actually works ### The physical principle behind the protective air bubbles Technically speaking, the effectiveness of **bubble wrap** rests on a relatively simple physical principle: the small pockets of air trapped between the two layers of plastic absorb the shocks and vibrations experienced by the packaged object, considerably reducing the risk of damage during sometimes rough handling and transport of parcels. Each individual bubble acts as a tiny **cushion**, distributing impact energy across the surface of the material instead of letting it strike the fragile object directly. This **shock-absorption property** explains why this material remains, even today, widely favored in the **logistics** and **online retail** industries, despite the emergence of numerous newer alternatives supposedly offering comparable protective properties at a lower environmental cost and a smaller carbon footprint over the full life cycle of the packaging. ### A popularity that goes beyond simple functional use Beyond its original protective function, **bubble wrap** has also become, over time, an object of almost playful fascination for many people who particularly enjoy the act of popping the small air bubbles between their fingers. This unexpected **recreational dimension** has helped popularize this material even further, well beyond its originally strictly **industrial use**. *It's hard not to smile at the thought that this gesture, now practiced almost instinctively by millions of people around the world, was never remotely intended by the two engineers who were, above all, trying to create decorative wallpaper for people's homes.* The gap between that original ambition and the material's actual cultural life could hardly be wider, and no amount of market research back in 1957 could have predicted it. ## A success story that crossed the decades, and its lasting lessons ### Constant adaptation to modern logistical needs Since its creation, **Bubble Wrap** has undergone many technical changes, with variants adapted to different types of products, **bubble sizes** adjusted to the level of protection required, and **newer versions** designed to address the growing **environmental concerns** tied to the massive use of plastic in contemporary commercial packaging. This ongoing capacity for adaptation explains why this material, originally invented for a completely different purpose, continues to occupy a central place in the global **packaging** industry, several decades after its accidental invention in a failed interior-decoration context. The success of **bubble wrap** has also gone beyond the strictly industrial sphere to become a widely recognized **cultural reference**, regularly cited in the media as an emblematic example of an invention that found its true use through a fortunate commercial accident rather than rigorous initial strategic planning. This cultural notoriety even led to the creation of a dedicated **annual celebration**, marked every year by enthusiasts of this material around the world, a rare phenomenon for a simple industrial packaging product with no cultural ambition whatsoever at its origin. ### Other inventions born from a completely repurposed use The case of **bubble wrap** is not isolated in industrial history: many **iconic products** have also followed a commercial trajectory radically different from the use their creators originally envisioned. This recurring pattern suggests that **industrial innovation** often proceeds through **successive trial and error** rather than a perfectly controlled **linear plan** from the outset. This observation invites us to reconsider the sometimes idealized image of the **inventive genius** who conceives from the start the exact final product they will later sell, when historical reality instead shows a succession of trials, errors, and sometimes entirely unforeseen redirections at the moment a product is first conceived. This history encourages today's entrepreneurs not to limit themselves to a single **target market** when launching a new product, but to actively explore several potential applications before prematurely concluding that an otherwise promising technical innovation has definitively failed. This lesson remains particularly relevant in the current context of **product development**, where many startups deliberately explore multiple possible uses before finding the market that truly matches their original technical innovation, much as Fielding and Chavannes eventually did after two very public setbacks. ## Conclusion: from failed wallpaper to global packaging symbol ### An unexpected trajectory that continues to fascinate The story of **Bubble Wrap** beautifully illustrates how an invention can fail twice before achieving resounding success in a field completely different from the one its creators originally envisioned. This improbable trajectory continues to fascinate those interested in the history of twentieth-century industrial inventions. *Three failures before one triumph: from ruined wallpaper, to failed greenhouse insulation, to triumphant industrial packaging, this three-step journey is a reminder that persevering inventors can, over time, turn an idea once judged hopeless into a product that becomes nearly indispensable worldwide.* It especially reminds us that persistence and openness in the face of failure remain essential qualities for turning an initially failed idea into a product that, decades later, continues to be used daily by millions of people around the world. Few consumers unwrapping a parcel today ever pause to consider that the material cushioning their purchase was once rejected twice before anyone thought to wrap anything in it at all. ### An industrial legacy still very much alive today Even today, it's hard to open a package ordered online without coming across this famous protective material, without necessarily remembering that it was originally meant to decorate the walls of 1950s American homes. This anecdote continues to be told with a mix of amusement and admiration for the persistence of the two inventors behind this invention that has become indispensable worldwide. That is why this story deserves to be told again and again: better than many others, it illustrates the mix of chance and stubbornness that sometimes shapes the greatest industrial successes in our contemporary commercial history. It also stands as a quiet rebuttal to the idea that great products must be planned perfectly from day one, since this particular one only found its calling on its third attempt, and its true audience was never the one its inventors had originally imagined. **By Maxime Marquette, columnist** ## Columnist's transparency note ### Editorial stance I am not a journalist but a **columnist and analyst**. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies. I do not claim the cold objectivity of traditional journalism, which stops at reporting facts. **I claim analytical clarity**, rigorous interpretation and a deep understanding of the complex issues that concern us all. My role is to give meaning to the facts, to place them in their historical and strategic context, and to offer a critical reading of events. ### Method and sources This text keeps the basic distinction between **verified facts and interpretive analysis**. The rule never changes: a factual claim is published only when a verifiable source supports it, and the sources this article actually used are listed under **Sources**, never here. **Primary source families** used by the publication, when the story has them: official statements from governments and international institutions, public statements by political leaders, reports from intergovernmental organisations, dispatches from recognised international news agencies. **Secondary source families**: specialised publications, internationally recognised news media, analyses from established research institutions, reports from industry organisations. When an article cites statistical, economic or geopolitical data, it comes from the institutions that produce it (intergovernmental organisations, central banks, national statistics offices), and the exact institution is named under **Sources**. ### Nature of the analysis The analyses, interpretations and perspectives in the analytical sections of this article are a **critical, contextual synthesis** based on the information available, the trends observed and the expert comments cited in the sources consulted. My role is to interpret these facts, to set them in the context of today's geopolitical and economic dynamics, and to give them a coherent meaning within the larger story of the changes shaping our time. These analyses reflect expertise built through continuous observation of international affairs and an understanding of the strategic mechanisms that drive global actors. This article describes a documented state of affairs on its publication date, not a prediction: later developments may shift its outlook. No update is promised in advance; when an article is corrected or completed, the change is dated in the text. ## Sources ### Primary sources - Smithsonian Institution — feature on the history of packaging inventions — 2026 - National Inventors Hall of Fame — profile of Alfred Fielding — 2026 - Library of Congress — archives on American industrial history — 2026 ### Secondary sources - Smithsonian Magazine — feature on accidental inventions — 2026 - BBC Future — news on the history of technology — 2026 - Business Insider — the story behind the birth of Bubble Wrap — 2026 --- Source: Maxime Marquette, MadMax. When citing, name the author and link https://mad-max.co/en/article/le-papier-bulle-devait-devenir-du-papier-peint-pas-un-emballage