
Short answer In 1957 two engineers sealed shower curtains together to trap air bubbles. They failed to sell it as wallpaper before it found its place as packaging.
Bubble wrap inside a parcel box. But it did not start out as packaging.
In 1957 in New Jersey, two engineers sealed two shower curtains together. Air bubbles got trapped in between.
The two tried to sell it as wallpaper. It didn't sell.
A room walled in bubble wrap would never be boring
Next they sold it as greenhouse insulation. That didn't take off either.

Packaging packed with tiny air pockets. Only in 1961 did people notice it protects goods.
IBM 1401The computer first shipped wrapped in it
A failed wallpaper ended up protecting computers
Watch it as a short
Sources
Photo credits
- Bubble Wrap.jpg, User Consequencefree on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 (source)
- Puchipuchi.jpg, 알 수 없음, Public domain (source)
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