by Nicholas Hamner
Investment Advisor Representative & Director of Marketing
[email protected]
We are less than a week away from Christmas and Hanukkah. Regardless of what holidays you celebrate or how you celebrate them, you have very likely been shopping for gifts in the past few weeks. I have two parents, one in-law, and a couple of friends getting the customary one gift. I have a wife and a child who will each be getting much, much more than one.
With gift purchasing comes gift wrapping. So far I’ve gone through three rolls of $1 wrapping paper, a thing and a half of tape, and three sheets of labels. I had a great aunt who spent a good many years of her retirement working a few hours at a department store giftwrap counter. She used good paper, good scissors, good tape, and plenty of ribbon. Anything she wrapped looked amazing. She also didn’t teach any of us a thing. So while I’m fairly capable of wrapping what I buy, some still come out looking… uh… windblown?
Last night, while I sat on the bed staring at a non-flat, non-square (darn near non-Euclidean) gift and the flat, square wrapping paper I was supposed to wrap it with, I started wondering what we used before we had wrapping paper. (I have had similar questions concerning toilet paper but that’s… that’s a different article.)
A quick Google search showed that the Hall brothers (the guys behind Hallmark) used patterned tissue paper to wrap gifts in 1917 when they ran out of solid colored paper. And that’s the answer everyone accepts. Wrapping paper, 1917, that’s the answer, we’re done, let’s get some eggnog! But it doesn’t answer when we started wrapping Christmas gifts in paper. So I dug deeper.
Let’s start with paper. You can’t wrap gifts in paper if you don’t have paper. Historical records keep shifting between ancient China and ancient Egypt over which civilization was the first to use paper.
We know the Egyptians used papyrus (that it took me 35 years between learning “the Egyptians made the first paper from papyrus” and learning “the word paper descends from papyrus” is something we’ll ignore for now). But for paper—that is, a sheet made from using pulped wood fibers instead of pressed papyrus plants—we traditionally look to ancient China. The first process for papermaking is currently thought to have developed in ancient China sometime between 200 BCE and 200 CE, and we know that within a few centuries, colored paper cups and napkins were being used by Chinese families for tea service.
More importantly to this article, we know that during the Southern Song dynasty of the 12th and 13th centuries, gifts of money were given in colored paper envelopes. We also have records showing that Venetian artisans were dying paper in the 11th and 12th centuries. So we had colored paper by the 12th century.
So how did it take 800 to 900 years for us to get from “making colored paper” to “wrapping Christmas gifts in colored paper”? Firstly, it took a long time to get to a point where the gifts we gave were worth wrapping in the first place. For a long time—into the 1800s—most gifts were perishable (food, flowers, drinks, etc.) or monetary. Secondly, paper sheets at the time were made by hand and expensive. There had to be shifts in culture and manufacturing for Christmas to become what it is today.
The reign of Queen Victoria in the mid- to late-1800s saw a gigantic shift in Western culture and manufacturing. Ultimately, wrapping Christmas gifts in paper came about—and assuredly became established in the culture—during the Victorian era.
Queen Victoria was responsible for two practices that became Christmas traditions. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (who was German) resurrected and made standard the practice of having a Christmas tree in the home. The Christmas tree had been introduced to England during the rule of King George III and Queen Charlotte (who was also German), having been a German Christmas tradition since the 17th century. King George IV and King William IV did not have German spouses and did not keep Christmas trees, leaving it to Queen Victoria to reintroduce and establish the tradition in England. Queen Victoria also introduced the idea of a large number of gifts being under the tree (and dining table), something that had previously only been done for birthdays. She also instilled the idea that gifts should be personal and thoughtful rather than formulary.
Additionally, the industrial revolution coincided with the reign of Queen Victoria. The working revolution made life easier for many and made many items cheaper, which facilitated the emergence of a middle class with expendable income. Sheet paper machines were developed during this time, cardboard boxes came about during this time, and even the first holiday gift ads debuted in the Victorian era.
The changing attitude about the quality and quantity of gifts, the affordability of gifts, and the availability and affordability of means to wrap the gifts all occurred during the Victorian era. It only follows that wrapped Christmas gifts came about in Victorian England.
So for anyone a little annoyed with having to wrap a bunch of stuff, or who has a significant other upset over a “thoughtless” gift… blame Queen Victoria.
Also, on the subject of paper… the Chinese were wrapping monetary gifts in paper envelopes in the 11th century. We didn’t have toilet paper until midway through the 19th century.
Priorities.