Stop the presses! Canadian creates paper egg carton in 1911

Joseph Coyle, a newspaper editor from British Columbia, Canada, created the first paper egg carton after hearing a hotel owner next to his newspaper building arguing about egg breakage to his supplier in 1911. He came up with an egg carton made out of paper. He shut down his newspaper and began going into the paper egg carton business. He lived to see 100 years. He made a little money with his invention while others made millions when they improved his invention in later years.

Coyle’s egg carton isn’t quite today’s egg carton, but it is the blueprint for it. In 1921, Morris Koppelman improved upon Coyle’s design, bringing it closer to the modern version. Ten years later, Francis H. Sherman patented an egg carton made with formed and pressed paper pulp, just like the ones that line grocery store aisles now. Almost 40 years later, polystyrene foam got its turn in the egg carton business. Styrofoam was all the rage in 1967.