The American boxes, also known as box boxes, are the most popular corrugated cardboard packaging for product transport. There is no specific inventor of American boxes, as their development was the result of the evolution of packaging techniques over time.
However, Henry W is attributed. Wright and Oliver Long invented the first machine to make corrugated cardboard boxes. From that moment on, the corrugated cardboard boxes became more practical and economical, and their design evolved to give rise to the American boxes we know today.
Wright and Long played a key role in the invention of the first machine to manufacture corrugated cardboard boxes, which had a significant impact on the packaging industry. In 1879, Wright and Long patented a machine that could produce corrugated cardboard boxes more efficiently and at less cost than traditional methods.
The Wright and Long machine allowed the continuous manufacture of corrugated cardboard and its direct conversion into boxes, eliminating the need to perform these processes manually and in separate stages. This represented an important step forward in efficiency and productivity in the manufacture of cardboard boxes.
The invention of this machine facilitated the large-scale production of corrugated cardboard boxes, which in turn boosted its popularity in the packaging industry. The corrugated cardboard boxes turned out to be more resistant and versatile than other packaging options available at the time, leading to their widespread adoption in the transport and packaging of products.
Robert Gair’s factory
Robert Gair was a Scottish-American industrialist and entrepreneur known for his contributions to the development of the packaging industry and the manufacture of folding boxes. In 1879, Robert Gair accidentally invented the folding box while working at his paper factory in Brooklyn, New York.
The story tells that one day, Gair left a set of printing plates in his printing press and, upon returning, discovered that one of the plates had fallen on a cardboard sheet, cutting it. Realizing that he could create a folding box from this sliced sheet, he developed the idea and patented the first machine for manufacture cardboard boxes folding in 1890.

The introduction of folding boxes proved revolutionary in the packaging industry, as it allowed production cardboard boxes more efficiently and saving space compared to traditional boxes. Folding boxes can be stored and transported flat before assembly, which facilitates handling and reduces shipping costs.
Robert Gair's factory was instrumental in the expansion and marketing of these folding boxes, thus contributing to the development of the modern packaging industry.
