We now find posters and advertisements with photographs of babies wrapped in cellophane strange.
But 70 years ago cellophane was a novelty in the West, advertised as a universal product for packaging.
We were 50 years late. In the USSR, plastic bags began to come into use in the late seventies.
Before that, food was wrapped in paper.
Cellophane advertising 1930-1950s.

Sheets of cellophane from gifts were carefully folded in order, in turn, to beautifully pack your present. Food bags were washed and dried, and large plastic bags in the USSR in the 70s were almost a cult item. Scotch tape was brought from abroad as a gift! In the 70s it was definitely not on sale, as far as I remember. They took care of the packaging from imported equipment, especially polyethylene with bubbles was a curiosity, this was folded and stored.

Cellophane is a material made from wood pulp. His invention, as is often the case, was a matter of chance. In 1911, a Swiss chemist tried to invent a cover for tablecloths that would save them from stains. The result of his experiments was a moisture-permeable transparent film - this was cellophane.

For the first time the industrial production of this material was established in France in 1913, and 11 years later the technology was acquired by DuPont and, having patented, began the production of cellophane the next year.

So a new character appeared on the packaging scene - a transparent moisture and airtight film suitable for storing food.

Cellophane, the Flavor Saver! 1936

Another advantage of cellophane is that packaging made of it allows the buyer to hold the product in his hands and inspect it from all sides without prejudice to the presentation of the product.

If earlier the buyer could not pick up a bun from the counter, for example, and then put it back and leave, then with the advent of rolls packed in cellophane, this became possible.

Ad-cellophane packaged bread 1940
"Cellophane by DuPont
"Fresh! Just like this bread in cellophane!

Cellophane made it possible to examine the product without opening the package, which significantly stimulated sales and increased the number of so-called casual purchases, that is, purchases made under the influence of fleeting desires. Products in cellophane packaging aroused similar desires more often than products in cardboard.
In addition, cellophane packaging carried three more qualities: shine, cleanliness and freshness.
Shine surrounds the product with a kind of magic halo, creates a sense of the product's novelty, and attracts the eye.

The buyer, of course, guesses that it is not the product itself that glitters, but this does not prevent him from choosing a product in a shiny package. There are cases when, to revive sluggish trade in a store, products were wrapped in cellophane and trade went several orders of magnitude faster.

Tobacco and cigarettes

Hygiene

DuPont Cellophane 1938
"I never buy handled hosiery ... heaven protect silk stockings from careless hands of shoppers and clerks!

The use of cellophane packaging gives the buyer confidence in the purity of the product. This effect was especially pronounced when packing children's toys in cellophane. It seemed to the parents that no one's hands had yet touched the toys taken out of the sealed cellophane packaging.

In The 1950 "s, Advertisers Thought It Was A Good Idea To Wrap Babies In Cellophane

70 years ago, the plastic wrap was considered to be a thrilling novelty, as shown by these bizarre adverts touting the versatile product.

Scotch
There are several versions of the origin of the name "scotch". According to one of them, the Americans nicknamed the adhesive tape scotch tape, (English scotch - Scottish), since at that time there were legends about Scottish stinginess, and the glue was initially applied in the adhesive tape only along the border.

Vintage Scotch Cellulose Tape packaging (pre-mid '40s).

In 1925, Richard Drew got a job as a laboratory technician at the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing company, which was engaged in the production of sandpaper.

He was commissioned by management to oversee the testing of the new Wetordry sandpaper in stores and auto workshops. Once, while in one of these workshops, he noticed that when painting cars with two or more colors, the dividing lines from the craftsmen were not accurate.
He promised the painter to come up with something. Drew brought in 5 cm wide adhesive tape for testing at the auto shop. The painter decided to use a prototype, but when he started applying a different color, he noticed that the tape was warped. Looking closely, the painter realized that in order to save money, glue was applied only to the edges of the tape, and informed the inventor about this.
But, since there was no funding, it was only a few years later that Drew began to refine his invention. And on September 8, 1930, a prototype tape was sent for testing to a client in Chicago. The results met all expectations and costs.

Scotch tape was originally used to package food wrappers, but during the Great Depression, people themselves came up with many other ways to use scotch tape.

Scotch tape was originally intended for sealing food wrappers. It was to be used by bakers, grocers and meat packers. But the people who were forced to save money during the Great Depression themselves came up with hundreds of new ways to use duct tape at work and at home, from sealing bags of clothes to storing broken eggs. It was then that the scotch tape met with torn pages of books and documents, broken toys, windows not sealed for the winter, and even dilapidated banknotes.

On the streets of cities, in markets and in parks, one can observe an unpleasant picture. The wind blows multicolored bags from the products we used. Yet we are not civilized enough to throw a plastic bag in a trash can.
The use of polyethylene is now ubiquitous because of its practicality. However, a very serious environmental problem stems from it. It takes years for polyethylene to naturally decay, and if destroyed by fire, polyethylene poisons the atmosphere with poisonous gases. The greenhouse effect from the release of a large amount of heat during combustion cannot be disregarded.

The race for cheap packaging will take us to the extreme someday. But this was not always the case, if we remember that cellophane was the "progenitor" of polyethylene. Its manufacture is much more laborious and expensive. Therefore, cellophane was at one time replaced by more "promising" technologies.

We can only hope that the efforts of environmentalists will bring back into use a wonderful environmentally friendly material, which is cellophane. Cellophane should not be confused with polyethylene, these are different materials in nature and in properties.
Cellophane was first made by the Swiss Jean Edwin Brandenberger in 1908. By the nature of his work as a textile chemist, Brandenberger set out to rid himself of the sight of tablecloths poured over coffee in his favorite cafeteria. The morning cup of coffee made him sad, from his overwhelming disgust for dirty linen, he decided to soak an ordinary tablecloth with a thin layer of cellulose.

The first experiments did not satisfy him. The fabric became thick and brittle. The increase in the layer did not give the required strength. Until one day he noticed that a too thick layer of cellulose peels off the fabric and creates its own transparent film. With sufficient plasticization, it is possible not to impregnate the fabric, but to make a thin transparent material. What could be easier than covering a snow-white tablecloth with a transparent film that is not afraid of water?

So for the first time in Brandnberger's favorite cafeteria, tablecloths began to delight the eye with their cleanliness and tidiness. The name of the new material was given by the inventor. The word cellophane consists of two words. The words "cellulose" and the Greek word "fanos" are transparent. Transparent cellulose has long won the sympathy of food manufacturers. The first industrial production of cellophane was mastered by entrepreneurs from France. Since 1913, cellophane began its journey around the world.

Now cellophane is experiencing a new wave of popularity among connoisseurs of pure products. Expensive sausages, confectionery and elite breads are packed only in cellophane wrapper. The advantage of cellophane is that products in such packaging last longer due to sufficient moisture permeability, which cannot be said about polyethylene or lavsan.

It turned out that the aesthetic preferences of the Swiss textile worker were the reason for the great discovery.

The XX century was full of the most important scientific and technical discoveries, many of which are used in one way or another to this day. What inventions of the last century most of all influenced the further course of history and what development they received in the 21st century, read the site "100 years of innovation" in a new series of articles.

In the first article in the series, we will talk about inventions that appeared in the 1910s of the previous century.

The first assembly line at the Henry Ford facility

The importance of this invention can be compared with the development of the first steam engines - it made a real industrial revolution and significantly reduced the time and cost of making many things. We are talking about mass production line - a conveyor.

The first step towards its creation in 1901 was the development of one of the first modifications of the assembly line by the American company Oldsmobile. But it was only 12 years later that such technology was introduced into mass production, when the famous American entrepreneur Henry Ford began to use it in the automotive industry.

Henry Ford. Source: molomo.ru

At the beginning of the 20th century, a car was considered not a simple means of transportation for everyone, but an expensive "toy" showing a high level of wealth for its owner. Ford's policy in this regard was completely different - he wanted to make cars available to as many people as possible.

The entrepreneur decided to focus on the release of a single car model - the Ford Model T. He emphasized that the Model T is a simple and reliable car that can be afforded not only by the rich, but also by ordinary Americans.

Having bought a large plot of land in the suburbs of Detroit, in 1910 Ford built a new plant there to make his "people's" cars.

Initially, various parts and assemblies of the Ford Model T were moved on it on special bogies. Soon a short line was built for the final assembly of the machines, where parts were moved past the workers using mechanical force.

In 1913, conveyor production began to be used for the manufacture of certain engine parts (namely, magneto), and later it began to be used to assemble almost all parts of the car.

Subsequently, Ford improved its design and adjusted the assembly line to the average height of the worker in the plant, thereby making the assembly process easier - workers no longer had to bend over or reach for the right tool once again, which increased the already high productivity.

As a result, the production of one Ford Model T began to take about two hours - instead of the previous twelve.

Having re-equipped all its other factories with conveyors and constantly increasing the production rate, Ford was able to produce about 10 thousand cars every day! All of them managed to find their buyer, which made Ford one of the richest and most famous entrepreneurs in the United States.

So, in 1900 in the United States, one car accounted for about 9,000 people, and in 1929 - for every 5 people. By this time, there were about 26 million standard Ford Ts in the States, differing only in color and body shape.

Later, the example of Ford was followed by industrialists from other areas, who introduced conveyors in various areas of production. As a result, this allowed many developed countries to prepare for the mechanization, automation and robotization of production in the 1950s and 1990s.

Stainless steel

The development of a metal that is not subject to oxidation and, as a result, deterioration was carried out by many scientists around the world in the late 19th - early 20th centuries, but the British metallurgist Harry Brearley is considered the official inventor of this alloy.

In 1913, he conducted research on steel alloys, which were supposed to be used for the manufacture of gun barrels. The scientist worked through trial and error, testing the strength of alloys with various additives.

In the course of his experiments, Brearley noticed that one of the castings made a month ago was not covered with rust and was preserved in excellent condition. This alloy contained 85.3% iron, 0.2% silicon, 0.44% manganese, 0.24% carbon and 12.8% chromium - and this is how they discovered the world's first variety of stainless steel.

Although the resulting alloy was not suitable for weapons purposes, Harry knew right away that this material would find many other uses. The researcher decided to use his development to create knives and cutlery, but his employers and other metallurgists were not interested in the development and felt that such a production would require too much investment.

Harry later met his high school friend, Ernest Stewart, who worked for a cutlery company. At first, he did not believe in the existence of a rust-free metal. Even after the creation of the first prototypes of knives produced using the new technology, Ernest did not find them suitable for sale - they very quickly became blunt.

This is what a modern stainless steel knife looks like today.

Subsequently, they still managed to select a heating mode in which the steel amenable to processing, did not become brittle when cooled, and the products from which were well sharpened. They called their invention "stainless steel" and in 1915 they patented it in Canada, and in 1916 in the USA.

Elwood Haynes

Around the same time, the American Elwood Haynes created his version of "stainless steel", which was distinguished by a higher carbon content (providing hardness during quenching) and a different crystal lattice. Elwood sought to create steel for the manufacture of machine tools and milling cutters, so such properties of his alloy were very useful.

After a string of lawsuits between him and Brearley over the primacy of stainless steel, they came to an agreement and formed a joint venture, The American Stainless Steel Company in Pittsburgh.

Much later, the Heins-type steel was called martensitic, and steels dating back to the Brearley alloy were called ferritic. They and other subsequently discovered varieties of stainless steel are used today in almost all spheres of our life - medicine, construction, oil and gas industry and other equally important industries.

Cellophane

Chemist of Swiss origin - Jacques E. Brandenberger is considered to be the creator of cellophane.

According to legend, the idea of ​​creating such a material came to him by accident. One day he was having lunch at a restaurant with his colleagues, and one of them poured a glass of red wine on a white tablecloth. While it was being changed, Jacques pondered how it would be possible to save the tablecloth from such careless handling.

He suggested that if you treat the fabric with viscose, it will turn out to be water-repellent. But such an experiment was not crowned with success - after drying, the fabric covered with viscose became very coarse and did not bend well. In addition, the coating peeled off easily as a thin transparent film.

This film interested Brandenberger - transparent, like glass, and at the same time flexible and durable, it did not let water through, but absorbed it and let water vapor pass. The resulting material looked promising enough that Jacques spent several years developing a method for its industrial production.

In 1912 he founded the company La Cellophane (from the French words cellulose - cellulose, and diaphane - transparent) and released a machine for the industrial production of a new material. But cellophane never became a mass product - its production was too expensive, and it was only suitable for packing expensive gifts.

In 1924, Brandenberger sold the rights to release his invention to the American company DuPont - as it turned out, this decision was fatal. An employee of this company, Hale Charch, was able to significantly improve the material and eventually corrected its main drawback - he made it impermeable not only to water, but also to water vapor.

Hale Church

This paved the way for cellophane in the food industry as a universal packaging that kept food fresh for a long time.

It was only with the advent of polyethylene in the 1960s that this material ceased to be the market leader. But even now transparent plastic bags are often called cellophane bags out of habit.

Tanks

At the beginning of the last century, not only civilian, but also military technologies developed. One of the most important inventions of that time was tanks.

In 1914, with the outbreak of World War I, British Colonel Ernest Dunlop Swinton first announced the need for a mobile and protected combat vehicle with firepower and ability to move over rough terrain through trenches, ditches and barbed wire.

Soon, on the basis of the Holt tracked tractor, a prototype of the first such vehicle was developed, called "Little Willie" and became the first tank in the world. In 1915, he passed the first tests, but was clearly not ready for military operations yet.

In February 1916, a new and improved tank called "Big Willie" successfully passed sea trials - it was able to overcome wide trenches, move freely across a plowed field, climb over walls and embankments up to 1.8 meters high and trenches up to 3.6 meters.

Tank "Big Willie" on tests on February 2, 1916. Photo: pro-tank.ru

In September of the same year, the Mk 1 tank (the official name of "Big Willie") was first used during the battle with the Germans on the Somme River - the British losses were 20 times less than usual.

The tank itself weighed about 28 tons and developed a speed of only 4-6 km / h - like a pedestrian. The crew consisted of 8 people. It did not provide for any internal means of communication. Flags and lamp signals were used to transmit information; pigeon mail was used for long-distance communication.

A member of the crew of the British Mark I tank releases a carrier pigeon through the loophole. 1918 / historyporn. d3.ru

Initially, these tanks were also divided into "males" and "females". The former were armed with cannons and machine guns, the latter only with machine guns.

In subsequent years, the British released several more modifications of the "Big Willie". Each new version was better than the previous one.

Gradually, the tanks were adopted by other warring parties. For example, the French Renault FT-17 light tank (pictured below) became one of the most successful combat vehicles of the First World War and was used until the beginning of World War II.

It weighed about 6 tons, required a crew of only two people, was armed with a machine gun, a rotary cannon and developed a speed of up to 9.6 km / h. It also used for the first time the layout of the main units, which still remains classic: the engine, transmission, drive wheel - at the rear, control compartment - at the front, rotating tower - in the center.

In Russia, in parallel with other countries participating in hostilities, work was also carried out to create its own battle tank.

In 1914-1915, Alexander Porokhovshchikov developed a prototype of an all-terrain vehicle, which is also considered to be the first Russian tank - but in essence, due to the lack of weapons and armor, it was not one.

Porokhovshchikov's all-terrain vehicle on trial, 1915. Driving a car in a cap with glasses - personally A. A. Porokhovshchikov

After several not very successful tests, the project to create this all-terrain vehicle was closed - this "tank" never entered service.

In Germany, they also tried to master new weapons. In 1917, the "Bremervagen" company began production of A7V tanks, but the Germans could not establish their mass production.

Tank A7V. Photo: militaryfactory.com

Today, tanks are still one of the main combat vehicles of almost any army in the world and are equipped with new high-tech means of defense and attack, modern electronics, optics and much more powerful engines.

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Story

Cellophane was invented by Jacques Edwin Brandenberger, a Swiss textile engineer, between 1911 and 1911. He set out to create a waterproof cover for the tablecloths to keep them from staining. During his experiments, he coated the fabric with liquid rayon, but the resulting material was too stiff to be used as a tablecloth. However, the coating separated well from the fabric backing, and Brandenberger realized there was another use for it. He designed a machine that produced viscose sheets. In 1913, industrial production of cellophane began in France. After some modifications, cellophane became the world's first flexible packaging that is relatively water-resistant.

After the development of new types of polymeric materials in the 1950s, the role of cellophane significantly decreased - it was almost completely replaced by polyethylene, polypropylene and lavsan. However, the significantly greater environmental safety of cellophane due to the high rate of its biological degradation and the absence of harmful plasticizers (glycerin is physiologically and environmentally friendly) contributes to the revival of interest in this packaging material.

Receiving

Cellophane is obtained from a solution of cellulose xanthate. By squeezing the xanthate solution into a bath with acid through spinnerets, material is obtained in the form of fibers (viscose) or films (cellophane). Wood is the raw material for cellulose production.

Cellophane properties

Indicators of physical and mechanical properties of cellophane:
Tensile strength, MN / m2 - 35-75
Elongation at break,% - 10-50
Resistance to tear propagation, cN - 2-20
Muller punching shear strength, MPa - 5.5-6.5
Impact strength, MN / m2 - 47
The number of double bends to failure - 2-6
Indicators of physical and chemical properties of cellophane:
Density, g / cm3 - 1.50-1.52
Hygroscopicity,% - 12.8-13.9
Decomposition temperature, ° С - 175-205
Dielectric constant (at a relative humidity of 65%) in the frequency range 100 kHz - 5.3

Resistance to action:
strong acids - bad
strong alkalis - bad
fats and oils - moderate
organic solvents - good
Water resistance:
water absorption in 24 hours,% - 45-115
at high humidity - moderate
Sunlight resistance - good
Heat resistance, ° С -130
Frost resistance, ° С - -18
Flammability - burns

How to distinguish between cellophane, polyester and polyethylene

• Externally, cellophane and polyester (for example, lavsan) materials in the form of films are quite similar - they are very transparent, colorless, rather tough - they "crunch" when wrinkled. Currently, the bulk of transparent film packaging material is polyethylene and polyethylene, and only a small part is other polymeric materials, including cellophane. It is not difficult to distinguish them - with the same thickness, the lavsan film is much stronger than cellophane. In addition, cellophane is plasticized with glycerin, which is why it has a sweetish taste - in contrast to completely insoluble and more inert lavsan and polyethylene.
• Polyethylene films, in contrast to cellophane and polyethylene films, are less transparent (the thicker the film, the more cloudy the appearance of the light), do not crunch when wrinkled (this is true only for low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene - crunches), much more plastic (when stretching does not restore their original shape).
• Cellophane films are very tear-resistant. However (unlike lavsan and polyethylene), starting to tear from the edge, they tear further almost without effort (the effect of a zipper opening). This property reduces the area of ​​application of cellophane as a packaging material.
• Cellophane, unlike other polymer packaging materials, does not melt when ignited.

Application

Environmental friendliness

• Cellophane products in the natural environment are destroyed, decompose much faster than products made of polyethylene and polyethylene and polyethylene, therefore they do not threaten the environment, unlike garbage from packaging material made of polyethylene and polyethylene.

see also

Notes (edit)

Links

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Synonyms:

See what "Cellophane" is in other dictionaries:

cellophane- a, m. cellophane f. cellulose cellulose + gr. phanos is transparent. Thin, transparent cellulose material, impervious to water and air; used for packaging, in printing, etc. BAS 1. Mitka left a note on a stick stuck: ... Historical Dictionary of Russian Gallicisms

cellophane- Transparent hydrate cellulose film (thickness 20-50 microns), plasticized with glycerin and sometimes hydrophobized (varnished), for example, with ether-cellulose varnish. It is obtained by forcing viscose through a flat-slot die into a settling bath ... Technical translator's guide

CELLOPHANE- transparent flexible glossy film obtained from viscose. Cellophane is non-water resistant, flammable, easily painted in any color; it is used as a packaging material for food products, perfumes, etc. Big Polytechnic Encyclopedia

CELLOFAN, flexible transparent film made from reclaimed CELLULOSE, which is mainly used as packaging material. It is obtained by dissolving wood pulp or other plant material in ALKALI with the addition of ... ... Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary

Cellophane, cellophane, pl. no, husband. (from the word cellulose and Greek phanos light) (special). Thin transparent waterproof cellulose film, ex. for food packaging and printing. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 ... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

CELLOFAN, ah, husband. Transparent viscose foil, consumable as a packaging material, as well as in the printing industry and some other industries. | adj. cellophane, oh, oh. Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Sush., Number of synonyms: 1 film (59) ASIS synonym dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary

Cellophane- CELLOFAN, a transparent viscose film; packing material. ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (cellulose (yulose) gr. phanos light) cellulose film, widely used. as packing material. New dictionary of foreign words. by EdwART, 2009. cellophane cellophane, pl. no, m. [from the word cellulose and Greek. phanos - light] (special). Thin ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

A; m. [from the word cell (yulose) and Greek. phanos light] Transparent waterproof cellulose film (used as packaging material, as well as in printing and some other industries). Cellophane bag. / About a sheet, package or other ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Inventor: Jacques Edwin Brandenberg
The country: Switzerland
Time of invention: 1908

Cellophane (from cellulose and Greek φᾱνός - light) is a transparent grease and moisture-resistant film material obtained from viscose. Sometimes cellophane is incorrectly called packaging products (bags, commercial packaging) made of polyethylene, polypropylene or polyesters. These are different materials with completely different properties.

Cellophane was invented by Jacques Edwin Brandenberger, a Swiss textile engineer, between 1908 and 1911. He set out to create a waterproof cover for the tablecloths to keep them from staining. During his experiments, he coated the fabric with liquid rayon, but the resulting material was too stiff to be used as a tablecloth.

However, the coating separated well from the fabric backing, and Brandenberger realized there was another use for it. He designed a machine that produced viscose sheets.

For the first time the industrial production of this material was established in France in 1913, and 11 years later the technology was acquired by DuPont and, having patented, began the production of cellophane the next year. After some modifications, cellophane became the world's first flexible packaging that is relatively water-resistant.

So a new character appeared on the packaging scene - a transparent moisture and airtight film suitable for storing food. The freshness of the goods contained in cellophane was no longer as illusory as the first two qualities. The cellophane film, due to its tightness, really contributed to the preservation of the freshness of the product, which was especially felt when packed in a film of cut meat.

Another advantage of cellophane is that packaging made of it allows the buyer to hold the product in his hands and inspect it from all sides without prejudice to the presentation of the product. If earlier the buyer could not pick up a bun from the counter, for example, and then put it back and leave, then with the advent of rolls packed in cellophane, this became possible.

Cellophane made it possible to examine the product without opening the package, which significantly stimulated sales and increased the number of so-called casual purchases, that is, purchases made under the influence of fleeting desires. Products in cellophane packaging aroused similar desires more often, than products in cardboard.

In addition, cellophane packaging carried three more qualities: shine, cleanliness and freshness. Shine surrounds the product with a kind of magic halo, creates a sense of the product's novelty, and attracts the eye. The buyer, of course, guesses that it is not the product itself that glitters, but this does not prevent him from choosing a product in a shiny package. There are cases when, to revive the sluggish trade in the store, products were wrapped in cellophane - and trade went several orders of magnitude faster.

The use of cellophane packaging gives the buyer confidence in the purity of the product. This effect was especially pronounced when packing children's toys in cellophane. It seemed to the parents that no one's hands had yet touched the toys taken out of the sealed cellophane packaging.

In our country, everything was almost 50 years late. Cellophane and in the USSR began to enter into household use from the late seventies. Before that, groceries in stores were packed in paper, from meat and butter to manufactured goods, bulk products - in bags made of thick gray paper, large goods were tied with ropes or twine.