How Has Packaging Evolved?

Since 1846, Potters has been at the forefront of packaging and display solutions. Over time this company has evolved and has seen many packaging trends appear and sometimes fade away. One trend we would like to highlight is the simple box, which you may well believe is timeless, but even the box has had significant changes in popularity over time. The first place to begin is when modern boxes first appeared.

When were boxes invented?

It is impossible to answer this question as you could assume even the earliest humans found ways to store objects or tools in a box-like structure using rocks, plants and sticks. However, the typical cardboard box we are all accustomed to was believed to be first invented in 1817 by M. Treverton & Sons in England and was originally made to replace much heavier wooden crates. There was a significant difference between these boxes and the ones of today. These boxes were unable to fold or be flat packed and relied on being made with excessively thick paperboard. A similar and much slimmer material can be seen in our boxes made using Potters EcoBoard, such as our Legacy Range.

What were boxes used for?

Paperboard boxes were created out of the need to store or transport goods with a lightweight outer material. Before the invention of boxes, the only real options were crates and barrels, all were too big, too heavy, and awkward to stack making mass storage a challenge. In 1850 the Kellogg brothers used paperboard boxes to package cereal and as you would imagine, modern Kellogg’s cereal still is.

How did this evolve jewellery packaging?

During the industrial revolution in 19th century London, there was a boom of jewellers as premium mass production became so much more affordable. Hatton Garden was the centre piece for this growth and with a need for cheap, readily available, high-quality packaging, by the mid-20th century the now slimmer and stronger board boxes were an obvious choice. It was around this time Potters joined the market providing a variety of high-quality jewellery packaging solutions, such as board boxes, that could now be produced in small sizes perfect for jewellery. Many of our current product lines use the same traditional manufacturing processes from this time.

Why use board boxes?

It is true that paperboard boxes are not the cheapest packaging or storage option available. This was especially clear as alternatives such as plastic became overwhelmingly popular in the late 20th century and seemed to be the replacement being more durable and cheaper. Plastic became the first-choice packaging option up until recently. As we all know in the past decade it became unmistakably clear that whilst plastics offer many brilliant characteristics, it lacks being biodegradable, which is alarming when considering how much plastic currently sits in landfill.

This meant there was a need for a biodegradable packaging solution, but instead of looking forwards to new materials, many chose to look back at board packaging, which by the current day could be custom-made cheaply like plastic, but with the key benefit of being eco-friendly.

The resurgence of traditional boxes.

The Legacy Series is a collection that has truly stood the test of time. These boxes would not look out of place a century ago, and yet they are still as trendy and popular today as ever whilst being fully recyclable, with the box and lid being made of board and paper. Legacy embodies the boxes of yesteryear but takes advantage of modern innovations having the rigidity of a corrugated box, whilst maintaining a slim design. It is crafted with 880 and 1000gsm board, keeping these gift boxes thin without compromising structural integrity.

Legacy Boxes are available in three colours Black, Blue and Grey. These boxes are perfect for different jewellery pieces and other small gifts with six sizes ranging from a tiny stud earring and ring box to the significantly larger necklace box. This range is masterfully constructed using traditional methods from our own UK-based production facility, keeping as low a carbon footprint as possible to make this series the ultimate eco-friendly packaging.