When did crisp packets (and similar packaging) start being made out of plastic?

[ajsmith2]

This news story from earlier this year got me (golden) wondering..

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-44159179

The crisp packet is from 1967.. could be wrong but it looks like it's a plastic packet. 1967 seems really early for that kind of thing, If they had plastic packets that early on then they surely must have been pretty new at the time? That kind of plastic wrapping in the 60s seems a stretch, and as far back as the 50s seems highly improbable. That said, how exactly were crisps packaged before the invention of that kind of plastic?

[Jittlebags]

They were definitely plastic in 1970. Back then, there was a bit of a craze for shrinking Golden Wonder packets by holding them in front of an open fire on a poker. As well as putting carbon batteries in the hearth so they explode and take your eye out.

[im barry bethel]

Shrinking them in the oven to make a key ring was the thing late seventies

A self-confessed "crispaholic" had a surprise when she found a 1967 Golden Wonder crisp bag on a beach walk.

Kerry Hemsworth found the empty packet on the beach at Caister, Norfolk, as reported by the Eastern Daily Press.

Who would get excited enough about an old crisp packet on the beach to make the local rag?

Miss Hemsworth

ahhhhhhhhh

[Buelligan]

She hasn't had all the joy and wonder ground out of her on account of her being legally single, you mean?

[MuteBanana]

Must've been paper like those Brannigan ones.

[Replies From View]

She later "couldn't believe it" when she saw the competition closing date of 30 June 1967.

She said she currently had no plans with what to do with the crisp packet.

I think she was planning to enter the competition - what do you think?

[Dex Sawash]

There were some small local brands that came in sort of wax paper bags in the 70s.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Never mind all that what did crisps come in before 1967?

[Beagle 2]

Crisps is one of those assets that doesn't need to come in individual bags. I can fill up on crisps from a big bucket of crisps into my personal crisp tin and they might go a bit stale or whatever but it's still crisps, better than no crisps, better still fry them to order. I'm going to eat the crisps immediately, all of the crisps, so no worries about them going off at home because by then I will have eaten and shat out the crisps.

It's weird how there's less scoop shops these days, there were loads when I was a kid but now we've realised that packaging is destroying all that is holy there's the odd overpriced artisan refill cafe run by somebody called Tamara.

I wondered why this merited a BBC story and a thread but have you seen the other threads recently, this is the exact kind of thing we should be talking about at length and this was my contribution. 

[Buelligan]

Never mind all that what did crisps come in before 1967?

In Norfolk they had reusable wicker gussets.  Further north, the crispman would clop down the street and kids would be sent out with a jug for him to fill.  In London they always had plastic.

[studpuppet]

In London they always had plastic.

Go back far enough and crisps used to be delivered on drays and most well-to-do houses had a crisp chute.

[Dex Sawash]

Just remembered we got a big metal bin that was refilled each week by the Charles Chips delivery man. They quit coming because Mom probably quit paying the bill.

[Buelligan]

Sounds a bit French to me.  Who could forget the Johnny Chippies, just after the marvellous War, exotic in their striped jumpers, cycling from house to house with their strings of Frenchy Chips hanging round their necks?  Great British memories.

[checkoutgirl]

She hasn't had all the joy and wonder ground out of her on account of her being legally single, you mean?

I'd be delighted with a 1967 crisp packet myself. Not sure what marital status has to do with it either way to be honest. It's just another form of racism.

[checkoutgirl]

When I was in a restaurant in Florence recently I ordered the Florentine steak and it came sliced with 3 dips and a pile of crisps that were made fresh. They were so close to packet crisps the only giveaway they were fresh was they were warn and ever so slightly softer than packeted crisps. So before plastic they probably just served them beside a steak on a plate in a knob's restaurant.

[Shit Good Nose]

Paging buzby...

[thenoise]

I'd be delighted with a 1967 crisp packet myself. Not sure what marital status has to do with it either way to be honest. It's just another form of racism.

If she were married her husband would obviously take all the credit/glory himself.

[checkoutgirl]

If she were married her husband would obviously take all the credit/glory himself.

She might be a lesbie friend (a woman who would formerly be confined to the island of Lesbos), it's just another form of racism.

[buzby]

Paging buzby...

Smith's originally sold their crisps in greaseproof paper bags and card boxes, later on changing the bags to glassine (translucent paper). Golden Wonder introduced cellophane bags to extend the shelf life of their crisps after they were acquired by Imperial Tobacco in 1960.  Smith's changed from glassine to cellophane in 1967 when they were taken over by US conglomerate General Mills.

The 'foil' bag (really a laminate of cellophane with an ultra-thin mylar film on the inside) started coming into use in the late 80s, again to extend the shelf life as mylar is an oxygen absorber. Brannigans used plasticised paper with mylar film laminated on the inside.

[Replies From View]

Oh god I used to love shrinking crisp packets in the oven.

I was right there on the cusp, unaware that very soon they'd change to foil packs that wouldn't shrink as well.  If my parents didn't chuck them out there's a shoebox in their house somewhere stuffed with shrunken crisp packets, late 80s / early 90s era.

[Jittlebags]

Could you even shrink a Walkers? Did they come straight in in that mylar stuff. Golden Wonder was a good shrinking crisp packet.

[colacentral]

Can you not shrink crisp packets anymore then? I'm sure I remember doing it in the early 90's.

[Pseudopath]

Could you even shrink a Walkers? Did they come straight in in that mylar stuff. Golden Wonder was a good shrinking crisp packet.

I'm pretty sure they used to come in standard plastic packets (with see-through windows). Here's an example from 1985:

[Jittlebags]

Speaking about shrinking packets erm crisps. Anyone tried to emulate flavored ones. The only one I've managed is salt and vinegar. Potato slices a la shaved knuckle courtesy of a bendy mandolin, soaked in vinegar before frying. Not bad. Not sure how you do cheese and onion. You can get onion powder. Maybe do a cheese crisp in the oven, then plonk it through a spice grinder.

[Replies From View]

Could you even shrink a Walkers? Did they come straight in in that mylar stuff. Golden Wonder was a good shrinking crisp packet.

True about the Golden Wonder packets - they were my favourite shrinkers I think.  Another thing I forgot to say was that the shrunken packets would sometimes smell of the crisps themselves for quite a long time afterwards.  Very interesting.

Edit:  Pseudopath has answered the Walkers one.

[Pseudopath]

This image suggests that you can shrink mylar-coated packets:

[Jittlebags]

I'm pretty sure they used to come in standard plastic packets (with see-through windows). Here's an example from 1985:

Aye, that looks proper shrinkable.

[Replies From View]

I'm pretty sure they used to come in standard plastic packets (with see-through windows). Here's an example from 1985:

There was a kid in my school who had one of these pencil cases:



Although it may have been one of the other colours/flavours.  I actually searched this because my memory was that it had a transparent window like the plastic packets, but obviously it didn't.

[Replies From View]

This image suggests that you can shrink mylar-coated packets:

You can, and I did a few like this before I stopped.  As you can see, they look like shite compared to the proper ones, and what you can't see in the photo is their terrible smell when they came out of the oven.

[Pseudopath]

There was a kid in my school who had one of these pencil cases:



Although it may have been one of the other colours/flavours.  I actually searched this because my memory was that it had a transparent window like the plastic packets, but obviously it didn't.

You weren't imagining it...