Christmas Gift Wrapping with Ribbon: Free PDF Sheet

Christmas Gift Wrapping: History & Fun Facts

Quick Facts

• Wrapping gifts in paper became a mass-market habit in the United States almost by accident, after a Kansas City store ran out of plain tissue paper in 1917.
• Before printed wrapping paper existed, gifts were commonly wrapped in plain tissue, newspaper, or fabric and tied shut with string or ribbon.
• Ribbon curling with the edge of a pair of scissors became a popular decorating trick only after inexpensive plastic ribbon became widely available.
• Japan has its own long tradition of wrapping cloth called furoshiki, used for centuries to carry and present gifts without tape or paper at all.
• A well-known gift-wrapping company estimates that Americans use enough wrapping paper each holiday season to circle the equator many times over.
• Bows tied from ribbon became a standard finishing touch once pre-cut, pre-printed ribbon spools made a neat bow quick to tie at home.

An Accidental American Tradition

Decorative wrapping paper as a mass-market product traces back to a specific moment in 1917, when a stationery store in Kansas City sold out of the plain white and red tissue paper it normally used for gifts. The store owners began selling colorful French envelope-lining paper instead, and it sold so quickly that they brought in more the following year. That store eventually became a major greeting card and wrapping paper company, and the printed gift wrap it popularized replaced plain tissue as the standard way to dress up a present within a few decades.

What Came Before Printed Paper

Long before colorful printed rolls existed, gifts were commonly wrapped in whatever material a household had on hand, including plain tissue paper, newspaper, or scraps of cloth, tied closed with string or a length of ribbon. In Japan, a tradition called furoshiki developed centuries ago using a single square of cloth to wrap and carry items of almost any shape, a method still used today both for gifts and for everyday errands. These older wrapping methods emphasized function and reuse over decoration, a contrast to the disposable printed paper that later became standard in much of the West.

The Bow, the Ribbon, and the Curl

A finished bow on top of a wrapped gift became widely practical once inexpensive plastic ribbon spools were mass-produced in the mid-twentieth century, making it easy for anyone to tie a neat bow without special training. The trick of curling ribbon by pulling it firmly along the closed blade of a pair of scissors is a comparatively simple technique, but it depends entirely on the flexible plastic ribbon that only became common decades after paper gift wrap itself. Before that, ribbons were typically left flat or tied in simple knots rather than curled into loops.

How Much Paper a Season Uses

Gift wrapping on a national scale adds up to an enormous amount of material every holiday season, with some estimates from gift-wrap manufacturers suggesting Americans use enough paper each year to circle the earth multiple times over. That volume has pushed many households and stores toward reusable options such as fabric wraps, gift bags meant to be saved, or plain kraft paper that can be recycled more easily than glossy printed rolls. Even so, the basic scene of a box, a sheet of paper, and a length of ribbon remains one of the most familiar images of the holiday season, appearing in store displays, cards, and craft tables year after year.