I am interested in the pragmatic and mundane, two qualities found in the object of a baggie. What also attracts me to this item is its simplicity of design, versatility of uses and the material used in its construction: plastic.

Further contemplation of this object led me to a few thoughts:

  • By its function as a receptacle, baggies span all economic levels. It is as appropriate for the housewife bagging lunch items as it is for the drug dealer packaging contraband.

  • Their variety of sizes and thicknesses lend them to specialized uses.


  • Along with being practical and aesthetic (streamlined, no frills design,) baggies have a sentimental value for me as well.

................................History

1958
Baggies are developed in response to a market for disposable food wrappers for mass consumption, an outcrop of the baby-boom era. The original plastic food bag is simply that: a bag closed by a twist-tie. The baggie is available in only one size. Mobile Oil Company is the developer, but the people involved in the product development group who designed the baggie are unknown.

1960
The foldover sandwich bag is created.

1964
Glad Corporation pioneers a more efficient closure for the baggie using a color-coded "ziplock" method. This is Glad's trademark. Also, bag sizes begin to differentiate and the product line is now known as "storage bags."

1993
Mobile Oil Co. develops a more secure closing system for their bags called the "side lock."

1996
As a spin-off of storage bags (which are a spin-off of the original baggie,) Glad Corporation releases "Gladware" into the market. This product fuses the disposable, lightweight properties of storage bags with the rigid form of tupperware-style plastic containers.


............................Conclusion


Baggies have kept pace with the times, evolving from humble beginnings as a single-sized, open bag with a twistie enclosure into today's hybrid storage container (modernist invention goes PoMo.) Technological and design advances have made baggies an integral part of millions of households and businesses throughout the world. Just another example of American know-how making life a little easier.