Unwrapping our tradition of wrapping gifts

So, me being me, I had to look it up.

It turns out that the first recorded instance of gift wrapping - known as chih pao - was in China over two thousand years ago in the Ancient Song Dynasty. However, you could argue that as they were wrapping money in paper, it was more of an envelope, really, but regardless of semantics, the idea of wrapping gifts up was clearly established.

During the Early Three Kingdoms Period (57CE - 668CE), Korea featured fabric gift wrap, with items being wrapped as symbols of protection and good luck. In the 1600s, the Japanese tradition, Furoshiki, similarly used cloth fabric. This tradition was borne from wrapping clothes at public baths so the fellow bathers wouldn't accidentally take the wrong clothes home, but this evolved into an early concept of gift giving.

However, wrapping as we know it today - with paper and bows and ribbons - dates back to Victorian England, where the wealthy echelons of society would use ribbons and lace to disguise the gifts they were giving to others. While the material used initially was a thick paper, this soon gave way to tissue paper in red, green and white.

Interestingly, the concept of wrapping paper appears to have emerged out of innovative problem solving. In America in the early 20th century, the Hall brothers owned a stationery store in Kansas City and sold tissue paper for wrapping gifts. However in 1917, they ran out of solid coloured tissue paper and ended up resorting to the colourful French paper that was intended to line envelopes. However, their customers loved these fancier patterns on the gift wrap and by 1919, the Hall brothers were actually producing their own papers for wrapping. By the '30s, they added ribbons to their product list and in the '50s, they renamed their company, becoming the most famous gift wrap and card makers in the world. Their new name was Hallmark.

Despite this rich history, a survey from 2021 revealed that 52 per cent of us actually consider gift wrapping as the worst part of the holidays. In fact, 51 per cent hate it so much, they pay someone to do it for them.

So if we hate it so much, why does the tradition persist?

Chip Colwell rather beautifully articulated the psychology of gift wrapping, declaring that "[w]rapping paper is a striptease that hides and reveals, transforming otherwise ordinary objects into gifts", and I rather think he's right. The act of unwrapping a three pack of socks makes it less about the socks and more about the act of giving them, I think: it transforms ordinary items into something extraordinary. Possibly, the effects of delayed gratification and anticipatory excitement play a part in this, especially at Christmas. This is because the presents are often all under the Christmas tree for days - or weeks (depending on how organised your family is!) - for people to ogle and feel and wonder about. It builds suspense and with it, thoughts of what could be. No pressure.

So, it seems that the pain may be worth it.

MORE ZOE WUNDENBERG:

As with most things, capitalism seems to have overtaken us with regards to gift wrapping. If you have bought a roll of wrapping paper recently and been shocked at the price tag, it's with good reason. I was stunned to learn that the giftwrapping market is valued at US$17.84 billion ($26 billion) in 2022 alone, with projections of it hitting almost $47 billion this year.

Furthermore, it can become almost a competitive sport, with judgments on the quality of the wrapping becoming a part of Christmas morning for many families.

Interestingly, our global concern for the climate and waste reduction has resulted in us starting to turn back to the ways of old. Increasing numbers of people are wrapping gifts in tea towels, scarves and drawstring fabric gift bags that can be re-used.

However regardless of your traditional approach, I think one constant will always remain - the perpetual misplacement of tape, ribbons and scissors throughout the wrapping ordeal.