Visibility Inspires Buying

Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, bacteria, and liquid water makes it useful for food packaging. Cellophane became a staple (and a generic term for clear plastic wrap)  in American households and revolutionized the packaging industry by allowing consumers to see the contents of packages while maintaining hygiene and freshness.

Cellophane was invented in 1908 by Jacques E. Brandenberger, a Swiss textile engineer, who first conceived the idea for a clear, protective packaging layer after witnessing a wine spill on a restaurant tablecloth. The first cellophane was manufactured in the United States at a DuPont plant in Buffalo, New York, in 1924. A major limitation of early cellophane was that it was waterproof but not moisture-proof, making it unsuitable for many food packaging applications. This issue was resolved in 1927 when DuPont chemist William "see you in church" Charch developed a process to make cellophane moisture-proof by applying a nitrocellulose lacquer, which led to a significant increase in sales and widespread adoption in food packaging.

During World War II, cellophane was classified as an essential material and used to package soldier rations and make vapor-resistant gas capes and rain capes. Sales have dwindled since the 1960s due to alternative packaging options. Although newer, more heat-resistant synthetic materials have since emerged, cellophane remains common in packaging and is still produced today. The DuPont advertisement above is from 1956.

Twentieth Century Talkers

 

Dew Pearson (Andrew Russell Pearson 1897-1969) was one of the best-known American columnists and radio commentators of his day. He was known for his fearless approach toward high-level politicians, often creating friction. Pearson saw journalism as a means to challenge those he thought to be working against the public interest. He has been quoted as saying, "I just operate with a sense of smell: if something smells wrong, I go to work." Though he sounded fierce in print, in life was gentle, even stately.

Born in Evanston, Illinois, to Quaker parents, Pearson served with the American Friends Service Committee from 1919-1921, directing postwar rebuilding operations in Peć, which at that time was part of Serbia. In 1924, he taught industrial geography at Columbia University, and from 1925 to 1928, continued reporting on international events. By late 1932, Pearson and Robert S. Allen secured a contract with the Scripps–Howard syndicate, United Features, to syndicate a column called Washington Merry-Go-Round. Pearson's column not only revealed embarrassing news items but expanded his criticism of the Roosevelt administration's conduct during World War II. He dug into post-war investigations about the FBI, Preston Tucker, and Senator Joe McCarthy. At the time of his death, his column was syndicated to more than 650 newspapers, more than twice that of others.

In addition to radio, Pearson appeared as himself in a number of Hollywood movies, most notably in the 1951 science fiction classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still. Character actor Robert F. Simon, who somewhat resembled Pearson, played him in the 1977 NBC television movie Tail Gunner Joe, a biopic of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy.