Gift wrapping is the act of enclosing a gift in some sort of material. Wrapping paper is a kind of paper designed for gift wrapping. An alternative to gift wrapping is using a gift

box A box ( plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and ...

or bag. A wrapped or boxed gift may be held closed with

ribbon A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mat ...

and topped with a decorative bow (an ornamental

knot A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ...

made of ribbon).

History

The use of wrapping paper is first documented in

ancient China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the ''Book of Documents'' (early chapter ...

, where paper was invented in 2nd century BC. In the

Southern Song The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

dynasty, monetary gifts were wrapped with paper, forming an

envelope An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card. Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one of three shapes: a rhombus, a sho ...

known as a ''chih pao''. The wrapped gifts were distributed by the Chinese court to government officials. In the Chinese text ''Thien Kung Khai Wu'', Sung Ying-Hsing states that the coarsest wrapping paper is manufactured with rice straws and

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, but ...

fiber. Although the Hall brothers Rollie and Joyce Hall, founders of Hallmark Cards, did not invent gift wrapping, their innovations led to the development of modern gift wrapping. They helped to popularize the idea of decorative gift wrapping in the 20th century, and according to

Joyce Hall Joyce Clyde Hall (August 29, 1891 – October 29, 1982), better known as J. C. Hall, was an American businessman and the founder of Hallmark Cards. Early life Joyce Clyde Hall was born on August 29, 1891, in David City, Nebraska, to Nancy "Nan ...

, "the decorative gift-wrapping business was born the day Rollie placed those French envelope linings on top of that showcase."

By culture

Asian cultures

In Chinese culture, red wrapping denotes luck because it is such a vibrant and strong color. It is seen as a symbol of happiness and good health. In Japanese culture, wrapping paper and boxes are common. However, the traditional cloth wrapping called ''

furoshiki are traditional Japanese wrapping cloths traditionally used to wrap and/or to transport goods. Consideration is placed on the aesthetics of , which may feature hemmed edges, thicker and more expensive materials, and hand-painted designs; h ...

'' is increasing in popularity, particularly as an ecologically friendly alternative to wrapping paper. In Korean culture, '' bojagi'' are sometimes used for gift wrapping. A ''yedanbo'' is a ceremonial gift bojagi used to wrap wedding gifts from the bride's family to the members of the groom's.About Korea - Bojagi
korea.net

Western cultures

In Western culture, gifts are often wrapped in wrapping paper and accompanied by a gift note which may note the occasion, the receiver's name and the giver's name. Prior to the introduction of tissue paper, Upper-class Victorians in the west commonly used decorated and coloured thick paper to cover their gifts. Modern patterned wrapping paper was introduced to the American market by the

Hall Brothers In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...

in 1917. The Kansas City stationery store had run out of traditional white, red, and green monocolor tissue papers, and started selling colorful envelope liners from France. Proving popular, the company promoted the new designs in the subsequent decades, adding ribbons in the 1930s, and Hallmark remains one of the largest American producers of gift wrap. Hallmark records that gift wrap accounts for $3.2 billion annually in retail sales in the U.S.

Waste

In Britain, it is estimated that 226,800 miles of wrapping paper is thrown away annually at Christmas. In Canada, 6 million rolls of tape are used and discarded yearly for gift wrapping at Christmas. Some people attempt to avoid this by unwrapping gifts with care to hopefully allow the paper to be reused, while others use decorated

cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not th ...

gift sacks that can be easily reused many times; both of these concepts are part of the

green gifting Green gifting is an emerging trend that results in a lower environmental impact as well as a lower impact on personal budgets from the gift giving process. It began with the idea of recycling the packaging around a gift and has expanded into the m ...

trend that encourages recycling. Many people are moving into the trend of wrapping gifts with newspaper, magazine pages, old maps, calendars and into baskets to save single use wrapping paper from ending up in the garbage.

Psychology

In the past, gift wrapping has been shown to positively influence the recipient who are more likely to rate their gifts positively if they had traditional gift wrapping. More recently, researchers have found that gift recipients will have higher expectations of the gift inside based on the neatness of the gift-wrapping. In many countries the colour of wrapping paper has associations with symbolic meanings pertaining to funerals and mourning. These certain colours should be avoided when wrapping gifts in these countries.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gift Wrapping Giving Packaging Paper products Domestic implements Birthdays Chinese inventions American inventions Holidays