Vehicle Wraps are Older Than You Think
Hello, dear reader, and welcome back to our blog! At SignNers, we are all about vehicle wraps. Custom vehicle wraps are, in our opinion, one of the best ways for businesses to advertise themselves and, even better, it is one of the most cost-effective forms of mobile advertising. We have a long history of applying vinyl vehicle wraps right here in Davie and, if you have read any of our previous posts, you are already well aware of the fact that we have no problem going on about vinyl wraps for hundreds of words at a time. However, in today’s post, we wanted to try something a little different. We realized after reviewing our past blogs that we have never actually addressed the history of vinyl vehicle wraps. To make up for this oversight, we are going to use today’s post and our next post to go over the history of vinyl vehicle wraps. Continue reading below to learn more.
The Early Days of Vehicle Wrapping Relied on Paint
Since the invention of automobiles, car enthusiasts have been putting markings or other graphics on their vehicles. While this originally started as a way for racecars to distinguish themselves from one another. However, the idea of marking vehicles quickly spilled over into the business world as business owners saw the advantage of a mobile advertising platform that, for all intents and purposes, was free to them if they already owned vehicles associated with their business. The first person to use an automobile as a form of mobile advertising was Milton Hershey of Hershey’s Chocolate fame. In February of 1900, Hershey incorporated his brand on a vehicle, spurring a wave of custom branded vehicle logos from a wide range of companies. In theses early days of “vehicle wrapping” the only choice for applying a logo to a vehicle was to use paint. This method of applying decals to vehicles lasted well into the 1950’s, however, in the early 1960’s a new material came onto the scene that would forever change the way companies applied their logos to vehicles: vinyl chloride.
Vehicle Wraps Owe Everything to Vinyl Chloride
Vinyl has, over the years, become a substance that most people are used to. While most people think of records when they hear the word vinyl, this material has been used for well over a century in the production and manufacturing processes of a wide range of products. In 1926, the BF Goodrich Company started producing large amounts of vinyl chloride, paving the way for its use in the design of custom graphics. At first, the use vinyl decals was relegated to large clients, such as the U.S. Air Force could afford to use self-adhesive vinyl graphics. This was due largely to the fact that the cost to produce the vinyl decals was prohibitively expensive, which in turn excluded small businesses from taking advantage of the new technology. Luckily, by the 1980’s, vinyl production costs and die-cutting technology has progressed enough to become affordable for small businesses. By the 1990’s, vinyl had become the primary method for producing vehicle decals and, at the turn of the century, new technologies started to emerge that allowed businesses to print on vinyl with electrostatic printers, greatly increasing the customization of the vinyl sheets.
Join us again next time as we continue to go over the history of the vinyl vehicle wrap and, as always, if you would like to learn more about our custom vinyl vehicle wraps contact us today or visit our website.
