Sometimes, when we have a hard time coming up with new topics here on the blog, we try to make you smile.  And today is one of those times. We tapped into our collective imagination, and the funniest thing that popped up was this question:

What would the world look like if corrugated cardboard had never been invented?

Remember that sweet old movie It’s A Wonderful Life? George Bailey gets a glimpse into a world without him, courtesy of the angel Clarence. Spoiler Alert – he discovers that he was important to a whole lot of people.

Well, if corrugated cardboard were a person, we feel solidly sure that s/he would find that s/he is indispensable in more ways than you can count.

Here, though, are a few of the ways that our lives would never be the same:

1. Going back at least as far as the 1950’s, Halloween robot costumes would have to be formed by something OTHER than cardboard.
2. The cardboard challenge going on at my kids’ school right now would not exist. And I would never know how creative my kids could be, without all those cars, games, and kaleidoscopes they’ve made over the years. We’ve talked about that here.
3. Cain would never have been able to create his arcade, the aftereffects of which have been massive, including a fundraising page to pay for his college career. We predict he’ll study engineering (fingers crossed)
4. Future talk: Drones will never be able to make deliveries for Amazon, given that everything they 9and everyone else) ships are being packaged in crates, making them WAY TOO HEAVY for the drones. Drones are relegated to military and photography applications. BORING!
5. Sadly, there would be way more on the job injuries for the folks who deliver packages. Can you imagine how much crates weigh? And how hard it would be to lift those on and off UPS trucks and up the stairs to my front porch?  Not saying I order a lot from Amazon, but my husband has declared me the Amazon Prime Minister. Conversely, the hand truck industry would be much stronger and enjoy much higher sales than they have currently.  So …. trade off?

Even though we were having fun, I think we made that case that corrugated packaging is one of those inventions that we all take for granted.  We don’t think too much about how valuable and integral it is to our daily lives, and yet it is just that. So vital. We outlined the history of it in this post, if you missed it.

Let’s just wrap up by saying we sure are glad that we don’t have to live in a world where corrugated packaging doesn’t exist. Long live corrugated packaging!