12. There were no distinctive packages, which led to accidents
Packages containing household products didn’t begin to adopt distinctive shapes and sizes until near the end of the nineteenth century. Instead, products purchased at a general store or another merchant’s shop were boxed or wrapped by the merchant, usually in plain brown paper or an indistinct box or other container. This meant that a box of cleaning powder, which often contained highly toxic substances such as carbolic acid, could be boxed in the same manner and appearance as a box of baking soda, which it resembles in appearance as well. In 1888 Scotland, thirteen people were poisoned when a box of cleaning powder was mistaken for baking soda, leading to five deaths.
Similar incidents occurred in the United States, leading to packaging becoming a process directed by manufacturers for consumers, and distinctive packaging and labels began to evolve. One of the earliest manufacturers to do so in the United States was the cereal industry, which began marketing a product, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, in packages aimed at the consumer. The emergence of branded packages allowed for an increase in advertising, and also helped consumers with product safety. By the 1930s laws which addressed labeling and packaging were on the books, and packages with distinctive shapes and sizes became universal. At the same time customers began to serve themselves in many stores, rather than having to wait to be served by a clerk, assisted by the clear recognition of the product they desired.