Be quiet....you did't know that

Tomorrow is Christmas so I thought it would be fun to take a look at the evolution of an age old product invention that by this time we're glad to have, but sick of using- Wrapping Paper.

I for one was interested to see where the tradition of this tool of temporary secrecy came from, and how it evolved from its earliest forms into the rolls of brightly decorated paper we see today. 

So - using a timeline first compiled by my good friend Eric Hart we can see the unlikely path this age old tradition took to end up here in 2014.

1509 – Earliest-known sample of wallpaper. It was used only briefly as gift-wrap because it cracked and tore too easily when it was folded.

1745 – We have a mention of “brown or wrapping paper” used “to wrap up Goods, therefore called Shop-Paper”

19th Century – Gifts were sometimes presented in decorated cornucopias or paper baskets

1804 – First advertising for Christmas gifts in America

1823 – First publication of “A Visit from St. Nicholas“, aka “‘Twas the Night before Christmas”. St. Nicholas fills stockings hung by the chimney with toys. There is no mention of presents under the tree, or whether anything is wrapped.

1837-1901 - The Victorian Period– Wrapping paper is decorated similar to the Christmas cards of this era. Flowers, cherubs, and birds are among the more popular patterns “Christmas papers were intricately printed and ornamented with lace and ribbon. Decorated boxes, loose bags, and coronets bore cutout illustrations of Father Christmas, robins, angels, holly boughs and other seasonal decorations”

1881 – Stockings hung either by the fireplace or bed and filled with presents were in common usage in England at this time

1843 – Sir Henry Cole of London commissions the first commercial Christmas cards from John Callcott Horsley

1857 – Joseph Gayetty introduces toilet tissue to the world. Tissue paper springs from this invention. 

1863, Ebenezer Butterick chooses tissue paper for his newly-invented graded sewing patterns, implying that it was somewhat widely available by that time. The use of tissue paper for gift-wrapping soon follows.

1874 – Louis Prang, the “father of the American Christmas card,” becomes the first printer to offer Christmas cards in America.

1890 – Flexography, a printing process using a flexible relief plate, is patented. It makes possible the mass production of a foldable, stiff paper which could be printed with colored inks

1900 – According to the Hallmark press room, gifts are wrapped in tissue or plain brown paper during this time

1912 – Cellophane paper is used to wrap Whitman’s candy. Sales of cellophane triple between 1928-1930 following the introduction of moisture-proof cellophane. It is used as wrapping paper, either alone or in conjunction with regular paper.

1917 – According to the Hallmark site, Joyce Clyde Hall and his brother, Rollie, invented modern gift-wrap in their Kansas City, MO, store. When they ran out of their solid-colored gift dressing during the peak of the Christmas season, they began substituting the thicker French envelope liners for wrapping presents. It sold so well they began printing their own. Previous to this, they sold white, red and green tissue and one holly pattern for gift-wrapping.

1930 – “Scotch” tape is invented. Check out the Tape Innovation Timeline at the Scotch website for more milestones in transparent tape, as well as pictures of vintage tape dispensers and packaging. Before this, gifts were tied up with string and sealing wax.

1930s-40s – Wrapping paper patterns become more stylized due to influences from Art Deco. Some more popular patterns include ice skaters, snowflakes, Christmas trees, and candles.

1939-1945 – During World War II, gift wrap was not rationed to keep morale up.

1950s-60s – Wrapping paper patterns become more realistic.

2014 - The gift wrap industry now accounts for over 3 billion dollars annually in retail sales.

Well there you have it, a chronological look at wrapping paper. A simple invention, but one that brings wonder to the process of gift giving and just one of many inventions we take for granted each holiday season.

To the over 20,000 people a month that read the Daily Inventor Education Blog - Thank You - and have a Blessed, Joyful, and Safe Holiday season - Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from my family to yours!

Mark Reyland     

A Market Audit...What's that?

We hear the word “Audit” and we instantly think about the IRS. But in the inventing industry the word audit means something good – it means information and that information means better decision making.

One of the first steps in developing a retail product, or getting a product idea ready for licensing is to perform what we call a “Market Audit” we use this tool to understand the current state of the market in which our new product is going to have to live.

In the early stages this is a far more important step than running to the patent attorney or hiring people to work on development. The Audit not only tells you important information about the market, but it lets you know the competitive factors that help you decide to more forward or not.

In conducting a Market Audit you need to first reduce the “product” down to its core function. This is important because audits are done based on function not just on like products. (see blog post http://inventoropinion.blogspot.com/2013/07/want-to-know-where-to-start-you-start.html )

Armed with your function – look for every item currently being sold that is a functional equivalent of what you want to market. List the information in a matrix so you can quickly see the 30,000 foot view of the entire market.

Information like – the store you found it in, the size, packaging type, price, color, benefits, distributor….anything you can think of that gives you a better feel for how this product stacks up to yours.

It’s not complicated, but it is important, so don’t skip this step, in fact make it one of your first steps and you will find it saves you a lot of money and time.

She's so HOT!!!!

I recently saw a show on TV about how the mind works. It was fascinating to think about how the mind processes data – but more specifically how the mind fills in the blanks when real information is missing.

Here’s a great example of what I’m talking about. What do you see in this picture?

Like most of us you likely see a woman’s backside. Why? - Because your mind took the basic information and filled in what it didn't have with assumptions. We as Inventors often do the same thing.

As the inventor rushes down the road with their shiny new invention headed straight for the wild and often scary world of business, quickly realizing it’s a world we know little about.

We enter armed with a few bits of real information we picked up along the way, some information we believe is true because we saw it on some stupid inventor TV show, but largely we leave our minds to do what they do best - fill in the blanks with assumptions and force fed images of what our mind is now telling us is reality.

The problem is, just like your mind tells you this is a picture of a woman’s backside – the mind is often wrong. This is in fact, a picture of a pair of shoes – Ahhhh, now you see it!

The same is true with the assumptions we make about the business end of the inventing industry. Taking a little bit of known information and allowing your mind to fill in the blanks is a really bad idea in business. You need to take the time to educate yourself on the real processes and information associated with taking an invention to the market.

Don’t listen to your friends who know as little as you do about the process, don’t listen to your Dog, or your Cat. Take the time to fill your mind with real information so it’s not left to fill in the blanks with assumptions that could later cost you a great opportunity or a lot of money.

Mark Reyland

You're a friggin nut job!

I was kicking around one of the "inventor forums" this morning looking for an interesting topic to talk about. I found such a topic in a question that has both a surface meaning and a subsurface meaning.

An inventor posted this on a site asking for advice:

A very large manufacturer I’ve been in contact with since last week was interested in seeing my patent pending product design. So yesterday I emailed my one page sell sheet, and the Product Manager sent me this about an hour ago:
…
“For us to proceed with reviewing this concept, we need to know what you are looking to get out of it. What licensing terms are you requiring?”

For this gentleman it appears to be an exciting response asking for additional information. However, to those of us who do this every day it's a much different question being asked.

You see - what the company is really asking is a series of questions designed to give them insight into this person on the other end:

- Are you a nut-job inventor like the last guy?

- Do we really want to be dealing with you for the next few years?

- Do you watch too much TV and think we love your idea as much as your dog did?

- Do you have any clue what you're doing and am I going to have to teach you every step?

- Were you smart enough to do your homework and give us what we need to commercialize this idea?

While there's no doubt the guy on the other end was interested at some level, after all, why else would he send the email. His question was much more about the inventor than the royalty.

Contrary to popular belief companies do not make decisions based solely on dollars. Companies understand that the relationship with the inventor is every bit as important as the money to be made or the idea itself - most have learned over the years to test those waters carefully by sending out a response that will let them know quickly who's on the other end and just how experienced they are.

So, next time you find yourself in that situation, remember the question has both a text, and a sub-text, one designed to see if you did your homework, and one designed to see if you're another nut-job inventor like the one who called last week.

Mark Reyland