Egg boxes - a simple solution to a big problem

"a gift to civilisation"

Sunny Dhillon, Vancouver Globe and Mail

Prior to the twentieth century eggs were transported in baskets. Now they may look pretty and you can soften the basket with straw or other such materials, but when you are carrying them along pot-holed unmade roads in horse-driven carts inevitably there will be a lot of breakage. And so various people tried to solve the problem. Wikipedia gives a brief outline, PBFY gives a rather longer and more interesting summary. My very brief outline is an initial attempt that sounds a bit like the cardboard inserts you sometimes find in wine boxes, and then the real groundbreaker, one Joseph Coyle, a Canadian newspaper publisher who first made boxes similar to the ones we know today, firstly by hand and then by machine.

But, of course like many inventors of simple but essential things he never really made any money out of it. Big business did that by taking out patents, later in the century - firstly in the 20s and again as late as the 50s. But as the PBFY article says it proves that anyone can do something significant if they just apply their minds to solving a problem. My husband does it all the time. I never cease to be amazed at the creative ways he finds to repair things sometimes. However, I don't think everyone can do it. You need to be a lateral thinker I believe, and I'm not one of those. Though I wish I was.

"Creativity and problem-solving can come from anyone. If a newspaper publisher can create one of the most recognizable pieces of packaging in the world today, there is no way to deny that a barista or a receptionist, a custodian or anyone could find the perfect design solution for a pervasive commercial (or otherwise) problem. " PBFY, Flexible Packaging

And to my mind that includes the major problems of the world today - war, overpopulation, climate change, belligerent men ... I see that wishful thinking film Dave is on the TV next week. It's only an Ok film - no it's a very enjoyable light film and how I wish it was a true version of what could happen if common sense prevailed. (An ordinary guy gets to impersonate/be the President of the USA and in the process solves problems of inequality, poverty, etc. etc. just by being sensible - like I said it's Utopian). Dare to dream. And if only things were that simple.

But some problems are simple - like how not to break eggs as you transport them from the farm to the customer.

The egg carton as we know it has not changed for decades essentially. They tweak it a bit - some have holes to let the eggs breathe (do they need to?), some don't. Some are made from plastic, but essentially the cardboard recyclable box is king. Interestingly, and rather sadly I think, you can no longer return old egg cartons to egg sellers (I used to do this at the market), for reuse. He said it was new regulations. I think it's hygiene gone mad.

"Shock absorbing and cheap to produce, the carton has also become a signifier for what it contains – you don’t need to see the eggs to know what it contains." Stephen Dowling, BBC

And yet we still get broken eggs. When you buy a carton of eggs you have to do more than just glance at the eggs to see if they aren't broken, you really need to move each egg to see if it's not stuck to the box and thus hiding a crack at the bottom. So they aren't foolproof.

Moves are afoot though to change the design. I found two different, but essentially the same, designs. One from a Hungarian student designer who is in talks with a manufacturer:

And the second from a German company who won a design award for it.

Of course, pretty design does not necessarily mean commercial success but apparently the attraction of these is their reusability and the flatpack nature of the product. The first one is held together by rubber bands and the second by a thick paper band. Their designers say the eggs won't move but you'd have to worry wouldn't you? All eggs are not exactly the same size, even after grading. So let's wait and see if these designs, or similar, replace the ones we know.

Egg cartons, of course, are a source of creativity in themselves. A favourite of Play School, kindergartens and primary schools everywhere they have also been used by grown up artists to make designer lamps and other such things. I saw a couch, sculptures, even a house - all made from egg boxes. And, of course, you can also use them to plant seeds, keep little things in, insulate your ceiling and plant your seeds.

Can't see you doing any of that with those new designs, which are basically just strips of cardboard. But creativity is indeed a wonderful thing. And an egg is the ultimate symbol of creation after all isn't it?