As long as we can remember, men and women of every continent exchanged gifts. In the early days, people just sent gifts and did not bother to wrap them. Gifts were sent and exchanged during special occasions, birth of a child, between Kings who were trying to appease each other and the like. Gifts were also widely sent during special ceremonies like marriages and engagements. In other cases, gift-giving takes on a more sentimental value where gifts are exchanged during times such as engagements and weddings. People who are also very close such as fiancés also fall into the habit of sending and receiving gifts from each other. With the popularity of gifts, comes gift designer wrapping paper. In many nations, gifts are not just sent, they are carefully prepared. In fact many stores now spot a gift sections where they stock everything that pertains to gifts. In this section you are likely to have paper, tape, ribbons, cards, boxes and plastic covers. So you see that the popularity of gifts also elevates the other accessories as well in such a way that when you have an escalation in gift sending, you also see a increase in sales for the other accessories as well.
Wrapping Paper is important because when gifts are sent, they are no longer just given or sent in their original container or box. People now prefer to wrap their gifts. This enhances the element of surprise where the person opening their gift holds their breath in anticipation. One can remember when as a child, the contents of the gift were kept secret until the day of gift opening comes. In the Christmas season, this day is usually the day after or the 26th of December. This day has become traditionally known as Boxing Day and is the day that has been reserved for the opening of gifts. So people leave their gifts under the Christmas tree until that day.
The designer wrapping paper also conveys to the person receiving the gift that they are special. When a gift is wrapped in a special attractive way, it tells the other party that they mean something because the very act of wrapping the gift takes times and energy. There are many kinds of paper to wrap gifts and many even come with fancy ribbons that enhance the look of the gift. So a wrapped gift tends to speak more than just a regular gift which was not wrapped.
Paper gift wrappers also protect the gift. In the case of the Boxing Day waiting, there is a temptation especially by little children to poke holes in the gift With the proper paper wrappers, this cannot be done and the child is force to wait until the day when everyone opens their gifts. The protection also extends to when the gift is being transported. While there are many gifts that are exchanged between members of the same household in the same house, there are those that are exchanged between people that are across cities, states and even countries.