Shutterstock.com

The Truth About Wrapping Paper

The surprising history—and uncertain future—of a holiday tradition

By Talia Cowen and Kristin Lewis

From the December 2025/January 2026 Issue

Learning Objective: to read a short informational text, then craft a constructed response that includes a claim, text evidence, and commentary

Lexile: 980L

Featured Skill: Constructed Response,

Standards

Listen to this story read aloud.

Rollie and J.C. Hall had a major problem.

It was December 1917 in Kansas City, Missouri—the height of the busy holiday season. Inside the brothers’ stationery store, customers were lining up to buy tissue paper to wrap their presents.

And the brothers had just sold the last of it.

Rollie raced over to their warehouse, hoping to find something—anything!—that could be sold in its place. That’s when he saw it: a stack of decorated paper specially ordered from France. Covered with shapes, florals, and Christmas designs, the thick paper was meant to be used to line envelopes. Rollie figured it would work as gift wrap until they could get more tissue paper, and J.C. agreed.

Little did the Hall brothers know that they had just invented modern wrapping paper.

An Ancient Tradition

Nicola Tree/Getty Images

2.3 million pounds of gift wrap is tossed in the trash every year.

Though wrapping paper as we know it today is relatively new, the tradition of presenting gifts in some kind of covering is ancient. In Korea, the tradition of wrapping presents with squares of colorful cloth called bojagi dates back 2,000 years. In Japan, a similar tradition got its start a few hundred years ago. There, gifts are wrapped in pieces of patterned silk or cotton called furoshiki. After a present is opened, the furoshiki is returned to the gift giver to be used again.

In the U.S., by the turn of the 20th century, most people had begun wrapping presents in sturdy brown paper fastened with glue or string. (Tape wouldn’t come along until the 1930s.) Americans were also adding newspaper, fabric, colored tissue paper, and even wallpaper into the mix of wrapping materials.

Then came the Hall brothers.

The brothers sold their fancy French paper for 10 cents a sheet. (Today that would be about $2.) Customers adored it—so much, in fact, that the store quickly sold out of it too.

The brothers realized they were on to something. Soon they began making their own decorative gift wrap. People loved the extra touch that colorful patterns and wintry scenes gave to presents.

Within a few years, the trend of using decorative wrapping paper had spread across the country. As for the brothers’ store, it eventually became Hallmark, one of the most recognizable brands
in America.

Paper Problems

Today wrapping paper is big business—and not just around the holidays. Each year, Americans spend more than $6 billion on it. There is gift wrap for just about every occasion—birthdays, graduations, weddings—and with just about anything on it. Pizza wrapping paper, anyone?

Unfortunately, our love of gift wrap is not great for the planet. Every year, billions of trees are cut down around the world, and many of them are used to make products like wrapping paper. Tons of water and energy are used in the paper manufacturing process too. Then there are the chemicals required, which contribute to air and water pollution and release greenhouse gases. All of that happens to create a type of paper that most often serves a very brief purpose—then gets thrown out.

Sure, some gift wrap gets recycled—but not all of it does, and paper with glitter or plastic coating can’t be. An estimated 2.3 million pounds of discarded wrapping paper end up in landfills each year.

Green Gifting

Clearly, wrapping paper creates some problems. But the truth is, there is something magical about holding a wrapped present in your hands, wondering what’s inside, and tearing into the paper to find out. Without wrapping, gifts just wouldn’t be as much fun. In fact, scientists have found that people enjoy gifts more when they are wrapped—and that receiving a wrapped present can even elevate your mood.

The good news is that there are ways to continue the wrapping tradition while still taking care of the planet.

We can choose paper made from recycled materials, for instance. We can go old-school and wrap gifts in old magazines or newspapers, or design our own gift wrap by cutting up and decorating paper grocery bags that would otherwise be destined for the recycling bin. We can also opt for gift bags, which are easier to reuse. If we’re careful not to tear it, we can even reuse wrapping paper itself. Or we can take a cue from Japan and wrap our gifts in beautiful, reusable fabrics.

Basically, we can do what the Hall brothers did: find a creative solution to a problem—and make the wonderful tradition of wrapping presents all the more wonderful because of it.

Short Write: Constructed Response

According to the article, how can we make gift giving fun without harming the environment? Answer this question in a well-organized paragraph. Use text evidence.