So there I am, using scissors, ribbon, and scotch tape to do my best Martha Stewart exorcism while wrapping Christmas presents (but generally botching it up), when a crazy thought occured to me: How the heck did people do this before scotch tape?
I mean, it’s bad enough that grown men can barely wrap a box, let alone children, but what did people do before tape? There’s no way anyone used glue to do this-- Can you picture the sodden lumps that would be left under the tree?
String? Even worse than glue if you ask me (unless you’ve got a third hand to help make a knot).
And what about before paper was cheaply and widely available? Did a sweater get wrapped in an old rag?
Gifts often weren’t wrapped. They were kept hidden until the occasion called, and then given to the recipient.
Store sometimes wrapped packages in brown paper and string. Where I work, we have to do this frequently, and after a while you get a lot better at it, and it’s not as difficult.
If you’re looking for hands on experience at this board,I’d suspect the pickings are slim.
I was a child during WW11,and we had all the tapes,ribbons,etc.that I see today.I remember snowman type stickers.I guess today they’ve been phased out for the latest cartoon heroes,or something.
Tho I am old enough to remember when Rudolph and Frosty weren’t born yet.
There was reputed author on NPR a few days talking about the tradition of wrapping gifts. (Sorry I searched NPR but can’t find the link).
In his opinion, in olden times gifts were not wrapped and were mostly made/acquired by bartering by the womenfolk. After the industrial revolution (or some event like that), people felt guilt that their gift did not reflect some amount of “personal work” being put into that gift and hence started the tradition of gift wrapping.
Also, a little bit of gum, dexterity, and strings can do a wonderful job of wrapping a present.
The wrapping method that works best for me is to get the children to do it. This leads to our family giving presents that look like they were wrapped by children doing their best, which is charming, rather than by an adult who can’t master basic fine motor tasks, which is pathetic.
My grandmother used to talk about decorating the paper on gifts to be given and the paper being saved carefully and used again and again. I’m afraid that I don’t remember the specifics of her decorating the gifts, however.
Basically correct, but the Scotch tape was far inferior to what is available today and there weren’t pre-tied bows. Those stickers were used much more than they are used today.
Also it takes me much longer to unwrap a present because I was taught to “save the paper”.
[sup]I still think they shouldn’t let that newbie Rudolph join in any reindeer games.[/sup]
IIRC,the stickers were used much like scotch tape is now,at the seams.I remember my mother saving bows and paper,because her crafts technique was much like her cooking,minimal,but I distinctly remember her having some premade bows tho.Could have been by the fifties.
In one of Astrid Lindgren’s books, the children melt sealing wax to seal the paper “seams” on presents. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about packages wrapped in plain paper with colored string, and packages wrapped in colored paper with plain white string.
Since they both lived through the period they wrote about, I’ll take their word for it. And be grateful I live in the era of cheap and reliable scotch tape!
Lure, the snowman (Or Santa Claus) stickers bring back fond memories. Remember “Curling” the ribbon into a bow by using the edge of a pair of scissors?
As to the OP, in the early '50s when I grew up we had Cellophane tape to help us wrap. I still made a mess wrapping a package though.
The secret of wrapping a package with paper and string is to cut the paper well and fold it onto the box. Then run the string around the middle of box and when the ends overlap, twist them around each other and run them around the box again at a right angle to the first loop. When they overlap the second time, tie them off. Admittedly this process is much easier with a second person but it is possible with one pair of hands.
And the secret of wrapping children is candy-coated sedatives. Weigh them on the bathroom scale and check the label on the bottle for recommended dosages.
All the bows and ribbons are decorative now. They are imitating something that was functional and necesary in the old days. Gifts that were wrapped without tape are neatly covered in brightly colored paper and tied neatly with a ribbon tied into a bow. String was substituted if ribbons were not available (or couldnt be afforded)
[sup]I still think they shouldn’t let that newbie Rudolph join in any reindeer games.[/sup]