Paper -- History of Paper Bag

The Invention of the Paper Bag by Francis Wolle in 1852

In 1852 Francis Wolle patented in the United States, and later in France and England, a machine that he devised for making paper bags. It was the first of its kind, and covers the fundamental principle of the many similar machines that are now used.

• Invention: paper bag machine in 1852
• Definition: noun / machine to produce paper bags
• Function: A bag made of paper for holding customer's purchases. Allowing customer to purchase and carry more products
• Patent9,355 (US) issued October 26, 1852
• Inventor: Francis Wolle
• Criteria: First to invent. First to patent. Entrepreneur
• Birth: December 17, 1817 in Jacobsburg, Pennsylvania
• Death: 1893
• Nationality: American

Milestones:
1852 Francis Wolle invents and patents paper bag machine.
1869 Wolle and his brother and other paper bag makers found Union Paper Bag Machine Company.
1870 Margret Knight invents a device to cut, fold and paste paper bag bottoms
1871 Charles Annon files patent application similar to Knight's design
1871 Knight, filed a patent interference suit against Annan.and the court rules in her favor
1872 132,890 (US) issued November 12, 1872 to Charles Annan for paper bag machine
1883 Charles Stilwell awarded patent for making Square-Bottom Paper Bag w/ pleated sides
1890 William Purvis awarded a patent for an improved paper bag machine
1891 Purvis sells patent license to Union Paper Bag Machine Co., now part of International Paper invention, history, inventor of, history of, who invented, invention of, fascinating facts.

The Story:
Francis Wolle (1817-1893) invented the paper bag- making machine in 1852 in the United States. Francis Wolle, botanist, born in Jacobsburg, near Nazareth, Pennsylvania, December 17, 1817, was educated in the Moravian parochial school in Bethlehem, and then became a clerk in his father's store. Subsequently he taught, first at Nazareth hall and then in the higher departments of the Moravian parochial school in Bethlehem. He became in 1857 vice-principal of the Moravian seminary for young ladies, and in 1861 principal of that institution, which place he held until 1881. He was ordained a clergyman in the Moravian church in 1861. In 1852 he patented in the United States, and later in France and England, a machine that he devised for making paper bags. It was the first of its kind, and covers the fundamental principle of the many similar machines that are now used. Further advancements during the 1870s included glued paper sacks and the gusset design, producing the types of paper bags used today.

In 1869, Wolle and his brother and other leading paper bag makers founded the Union Paper Bag Machine Company. Union Bag and Paper Co.'s decision to open a plant in Savannah was great news to depressed Savannah in 1935. The company, founded by paper bag machine inventor Francis Wolle, opened its $4 million plant with 500 workers the next year. Savannah citizens streamed through the plant on opening day to ooh and ahh at the production of a thousand feet of paper per minute. The plant is still in operation today and is owned by International Paper.

Square-Bottom Paper Bag
Margaret Knight (1838-1914) of Boston is credited with about 90 inventions and 22 patents. Her patents covered textile and shoe-making machinery, domestic devices, and even a "sleeve-valve" automobile engine. Knight's greatest success, however, was the first machine to make the square-bottomed paper bags. Others had been trying to develop such a machine for years, since the envelope-shaped bags then used were narrow and flimsy.

About two years after the Civil War she went to work for the Columbia Paper Bag Company in Springfield, Massachusetts. While in the factory, she invented a device to cut, fold and paste bag bottoms. Initially her employer complained about the time she spent on the device. When she suggested she might consider selling the rights to him if it worked, he gave in. After doing thousands of trial bags on a wooden machine, she had an iron model produced in Boston.

However, before she could place the patent application, she found a man named Charles Annan who had studied her machine while visiting the factory was attempting to a patent machine suspiciously similar to her own. Knight, 33 at the time, filed a patent interference suit against Annan. She played to win, spending $100 a day plus expenses for 16 days of depositions of herself and other key Boston witnesses. Annan claimed that because Knight was a woman she could not possibly understand the mechanical complexities of the machine. Due to her careful notes, diary entries, samples and expertise the court ruled in her favor.

The paper bag-folding machine was not Knight's only invention. Besides devices that improved her paper bag machine, her other inventions included a new window frame and sash design, a numbering machine, an automatic boring tool, and a spinning or sewing machine. The total number of her inventions is generally thought to be eighty-nine. They earned her a good deal of money, but when she died in 1914 her fortune had dwindled down to a mere $300.

Square-Bottom Paper Bag w/ pleated sides
On June 12, 1883 the U.S. Patent office issued #279,505 to Chas Stilwell a patent for a paper bag machine. After fighting for the Union in the Civil War, Charles Stilwell began to tinker with the idea of making a better paper bag. Paper bags already existed at this time, but they had many flaws. They had to be pasted together by hand; their V-shaped bottoms prevented them from standing on their own; and they were not easily collapsible or conveniently stackable. In the summer of 1883, Stilwell put into operation the first machine to produce paper bags. The bags had flat bottoms for standing up straight by themselves and pleated sides that made them easy to fold and stack. Dubbed the S.O.S., or Self-Opening Sack, it remains in widespread use today. With the birth of the American supermarket in the early 1930s, demand for Stilwell’s paper bags skyrocketed. Their versatility, strength, and low cost made them first a nationwide then a worldwide phenomenon.

Improved Machinery
The U.S. Patent office issued # 434,461 to, black inventor, William Purvis on August 19, 1890 for a paper-bag machine, the combination of two suction-formers having perforated surfaces, between which the ends of the paper tube are fed, and provided with two independent grooves arranged at different positions of the length of the formers and out of line with each other. He later licensed the paper bag invention to Union Paper Bag Co, of New York.