Margaret Knight

Knight mechanized the production of the flat-bottomed paper bag, an early step in the mass production of low-cost packaging. Her machine replaced hand folding and made strong bags that could stand open, useful for carrying groceries and goods. When a machinist tried to patent her design first, she proved her claim with drawings and models and won the patent. She co-founded the Eastern Paper Bag Company and received many more patents. Paper mailers and bags used for e-commerce shipments today are produced on automated converting lines descended from machines like hers.

• Custom PackagingBranded boxes, mailers, and inserts
• Automated BaggingMachine that bags, seals, and labels orders
• Void FillMaterial that fills empty space in a box

• Robert Gair1839–1927 · Inventor of the pre-cut paperboard box

1. Margaret E. Knight (National Inventors Hall of Fame) invent.org
2. Margaret Knight (Lemelson Center, MIT) lemelson.mit.edu