Power To The Paper BAG

Margaret (Mattie) Knight (1838-1914) invented flat-bottomed paper bags. Knight was an employee in a paper bag factory when she invented a new machine part to make square bottoms for paper bags. Paper bags had been more like envelopes before. Knight can be considered the mother of the grocery bag. She founded the Eastern Paper Bag Company in 1870.


You go girl!

Paper or plastic was not an issue then and soon it may not be an issue in the near future.

One emerging problem is that people who use cloth bags do not keep them clean. People are getting sick from mildew and mold that grows in the eco-”friendly” containers.

Paper bags, on the other hand or both, are easily reusable, recyclable and are biodegradable. I regularly make a nice mulch by running shopping bags through my paper shredder. Acid-loving plants love this kind of mulch.

Paper bags have solved gift wrapping challenges for manly men. Gifts go into pretty paper bags with nice paper, jazzy tissue, some ornamental ribbons and lots of love. It beats un-squared and over-taped corners and the glare of the “Men can't wrap a package looks by the women at Belks.” Bah!

Square bottom bags also work better for nails, cameras, heavier supplies and groceries. Except for Cuban and French bread and flowers, bags without bottoms are useless except for lingerie purchases that still need to be re-wrapped – in another flat-bottomed bag.

If you are lucky enough to own a Gocco printer or have the skills to decorate bags with your artistic skills, be glad you don't have to build the bag to start with. Just print or ad your art to the existing bag. That adds more love to the gift.

By the way, bag these thoughts: if you use plastic bags before they go extinct, please reuse or recycle them. If you use cloth bags, wash them occasionally. Febrezing ain't cleaning. When you use your paper bag, think about the little lady from the northeast with a great idea.

By the way, the first hot-air balloon was a very large inverted paper bag. Those crazy and daring French! © Tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com