2025-12-18
6 分钟The Economist.
Welcome to Editor's Picks.
I'm Charlotte Howard.
I'm the co-host of our American Politics podcast, Checks in Balance.
You are about to hear an article we have chosen from the most recent edition of The Economist.
We hope you enjoy it.
eons to claw up the edge of the sticky tape.
How much of your life have you spent doing this?
When at last you manage it,
the snippet of tape coils up annoyingly before you can smooth it under the wrapping paper.
You cut off far too much paper for the job, but it seems profligate to throw the leftovers away.
They are stuffed into a drawer full of strips discarded at past Christmases.
The whole brothers of Kansas City have a lot to answer for this time of year.
Short of tissue paper in 1917, they sold fancier envelope linings instead.
Thus, modern decorative wrapping paper was born, so later was hallmark.
It was handy during the Depression as a way to ornament often ordinary presents.
Today, the gift packaging industry consumes billions of dollars and umpteen trees,
chiefly at Christmas.
But, in life and art, each sheet of wrapping paper also tells a story,
turning a simple exchange into a five-act drama.