The Aesthetics of the Cardboard Box
There are few ubiquitous technologies that have gained widespread symbolic value like the cardboard box. It simultaneously represents delivery, globalization, class, versatility, and mass consumption. The cardboard box began as an early 19th century way of transporting silkworms along with a withering series of inventions. It became a late 19th century serendipitous accident, turning into one of the most transformative technologies in use today. But what are the underlying principles of the cardboard box’s role in today’s contemporary systems? To begin to answer the question, there are some historical contexts and the nature of how the technology works that contributes to the attributes of the cardboard box.
The oldest recorded use of the term “cardboard” is found in the 1817 novel by Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Windfell Hall:
“Then, drawing a candle close to his elbow, he gathered all the drawings to himself, as well what he had seen as the others, and muttering, ‘I must look at both sides now,’ he eagerly commenced an examination, which I watched, at first, with tolerable composure, in the confidence that his vanity would not be gratified by any further discoveries; for, though I must plead guilty to having disfigured the backs of several with abortive attempts to delineate that too fascinating physiognomy, I was sure that, with that one unfortunate exception, I had carefully obliterated all such witnesses of my infatuation. But the pencil frequently leaves an impression upon cardboard that no amount of rubbing can efface”
Paper-based boxes were created in 1840 in France to transport the silkworm, Bombyx Mora, and its eggs for silk manufacturing. The sequence of inventions accelerated. Corrugated paper for hat liner was awarded a patent in 1856, single-faced corrugated board was patented in 1871, a machine to mass produce corrugated paperboard was patented in 1874, and double-sided corrugated cardboard received a patent in the same year. This all lead to the invention of the pre-cut cardboard box in 1879.
Scottish-born entrepreneur Robert Gair owned a paper bag factory in New York City. One day, a pressman, instead of pressing the small seed bags, accidently cut through thousands of them (Gannon). Gair devised a method based on the accident to mass produce paper boxes for cigarette companies, and later supplied boxes to companies such as Colgate, Kellogg, and Nabisco.
Corrugated carboard in the form we recognize it consists of 2 sheets of paperboard adhered to a core of rippled paper. This construction creates air cushions in the board that forms a layer of protection along with the material itself. “The process begins by making corrugated board on a corrugating line, a long series of linked machines totaling the size of a football field. Paper is fed into the corrugator, where it is steam-heated and pressed to form corrugated cardboard. One roll of cardboard is corrugated and then glued between two other layers. Corn starch glue bonds the corrugated medium (wavy layer) to the liners (layers of paper). Two liners and a corrugated medium make up your standard three-layer corrugated cardboard,” (Apple Inc.). The cardboard is cut into box blanks to fold and then use and reuse.
There a two seemingly contradictory thought processes around recycling and reducing our collective carbon footprint in relation to cardboard. One is the transition from cardboard to plastic. The second is from plastic to cardboard. A vegetable grocery delivery service in the UK called Riverford Organics says that “plastic boxes could reduce the carbon footprint of the company’s packaging by 70%,” (Plastic v. cardboard: which is greener?). Plastic boxes are far more reusable than their cardboard equivalent, which generally only survives delivery and a modest number of re-uses.
With other packaging in other industries, however, the transition from plastic to paper can be an effective way to reduce our footprint, although with a catch. The consumer might have issues over correctly recycling the right things. “Almost two thirds of UK households (66%) express uncertainty over what can be put into the recycling bin. Over three quarters (76%) add one or more item to their recycling collection that is not accepted locally… In the US it is thought that 25-30% of rubbish put out for recycling ends up being landfilled or incinerated due to contamination from food and other substances,” (Plank). These two ways of transitioning, cardboard v. plastic, is not in fact contradictory. Each industry determines which way is best, based on how it uses these materials, and how consumers act.
What is the process of recycling cardboard? The consumer first properly puts the material into the correct bin, which is collected. Then the cardboard is separated from other forms of paper and baled to be sent to the mill. Once at the mill, it is shredded and dumped into a pulping machine and combined with water and chemicals. This breaks the material down into its component fibers. The pulp is rolled and dried, then sent to make new products and packaging (How to Recycle Cardboard).
The accessibility and versatility have contributed to the cardboard box’s ubiquity in modern life. It offers most industries general product protection, ease of shipping, delivery, and advertising/product recognition. Before the invention of the self-service grocery store, grocery was over the counter. The customer would inform the clerk what they needed and the clerk went to gather the items. In 1916, the Piggly Wiggly self-serve grocery store was founded and became very successful. The store’s success is attributed to both its novelty and the introduction of neat packaging. (TIME) The introduction of the grocery store in this form led to packaging and brand recognition being far more influential for the consumer’s decision. This in turn led to more impulse purchasing which offset the increase in shoplifting (A Quick History of the Supermarket).
The cardboard box has also become a symbol in a multitude of ways. It is both a symbol of homelessness and consumerism. It is a symbol of the delivery and consumption of both essential and non-essential items. The cardboard box is somewhat unusual in these ways because, although it is a symbol of these issues, it also functions in these capacities as shelter, versatility, consumerism, and community. The cardboard box and the increase in delivery has allowed essential items getting to isolated buildings during the COVID crisis, and it is likely that the crisis could have been much worse without delivery infrastructure and an inexpensive, durable, easy-to-use technology to fulfill the task.
The cardboard box has led to an explosion of consumer products, brands, and multiple variations of the design. One revived use of the cardboard box has been vinyl music record packaging. Vinyl has seen a year-over-year growth in sales the past few years. The main mode of protecting and advertising the record is the box board cover that it usually emblazed with eye-catching works of art and design. The box allows records to be economically packaged together in bulk and subsequently distributed to consumers.
Another notable box design is that of Amazon. Amazon has been increasing its delivery services used by millions of people to deliver everything both essential and non-essential. The box’s design is recognizable because of its graphic design and its association with both fast delivery and brutal working conditions.
Finally, one box design was notable enough to be shown in 2005 at the Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition was for designs that “protect body and find from dangerous or stressful circumstances,” (SAFE: Design Takes on Risk). The box is a corner-cut box where the 4 90-degree corners of a regular box are altered into 8 45-degree angles. The box was designed for the Kirin Brewing Company to package its product. The design reduces the amount of cardboard uses as well as making the container easier to carry and transport.
Launching off from the concept of reducing waste, there is a small branch of architecture called Cardboard Architecture. One example of this was the temporary pavilion for the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban; known for his innovative work with recycled cardboard tubes. The columns were constructed with a coated cardboard composite. This allowed for a durable and affordable building for temporary use (Dezeen).
The artist Mungo Thompson is an artist who borrows from design culture. One of his sculptures is a realistic bronze-cast sculpture of a stack of Amazon boxes. The act of monumentalizing urbanity and ubiquity of certain technologies lends to some interesting questions such as: What is modernity and urbanity? What does it mean to make a monumental relic of these concerns? As stated above, the Amazon box is a powerful symbol of both corporate culture and consumerism, so what does that mean in relation to attaching these ideas to a seemingly understated monument?
Another artist, EVOL, works more directly with the material of the cardboard box paints and prints disembodied urban spaces onto tattered and discarded cardboard boxes. These portraits of urban spaces are meant to speak to both urban life and poverty. It appears that the artist is trying reflect how urban life can sometimes be a disembodying experience, and using dirty and tattered boxes as a substrate pushes this contradictory experience of ubiquity and isolation.
The cardboard box is everywhere in so many forms. It was first, and still primarily, used for delivery. But it can be so much more to us. It reflects our society’s faults (poverty, consumerism, corporatism) while also contributing to new ideas of reusability and the democratization of technology. Nothing else compares.
References
Gannon, David. “How the cardboard box was accidentally invented in a NYC Factory.” 6sqft. 7 June 2018. Accessed 28 September 2020.
Brontë, Anne. The Tenant of Windfell Hall. 1817
Apple Ltd. “Corrugated boxes: Manufacturing.” https://www.appleltd.com/corrugated_boxes_manufacturing.aspx
“Plastic v. cardboard: which is greener?” Guardian Environment Network. 31 March 2010. Accessed 29 September 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/mar/31/plastics-cardboard
Plank, Melanie. “How Sustainable Is Paper and Cardboard Packaging?” Common Objective. 24 January 2020. Accessed 29 September 2020. https://www.commonobjective.co/article/how-sustainable-is-paper-and-cardboard-packaging