Who invented the cardboard box and when?

Although the use of cardboard boxes has decreased to a large extent with the emergence of new materials in recent years, an increase in the use of cardboard has begun to be observed again with the increase in the sensitivity of human beings to the use of recyclable materials.

Before the invention of the cardboard box, wood was the most used material to pack items. However, wood was both heavy and expensive and not particularly suitable for packaging small and light items. In 1817, Sir Malcolm Thornhill produced the first commercial cardboard box. Although his invention quickly gained popularity, the Kellogg Brothers' use of the cardboard box to package their products in the early 1900s greatly increased the popularity of this product.

Realizing that cardboard could be printed on, manufacturers began to launch products that were very cheap, had attractive packages, and even had advertisements on the packages. Corrugated cardboard boxes began to be developed later in Switzerland. The corrugated cardboard box, which was a more reinforced type of the first cardboard box, had a much wider usage area and due to its durability, it started to be used as a shelter for homeless people as well as for the transportation of large household items.

The influence of the cardboard box on people of that time can be seen in "The Adventures of the Cardboard Box", a Sherlock Holmes story.

The Adventure of the Cardboard Box is a Sherlock Holmes adventure written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, first published in January 1893.

In the mailbox mailed to Miss Susan Cushing, resident of Croydon, are two severed ears laid in salt. Detective Lestrade of Scotland Yard describes the incident as a nasty prank played on the landlords by medical students who were tenants in Cushing's home but were recently evicted. However, Holmes, who is involved in the subject, reveals that there is a very serious crime in the light of the information he collects from the box and ears.

A Brief History of the Indispensable and Ingenious Cardboard Box

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