A Couple of Fascinating Historical Facts About Warehousing

Wooden PaletteLately, our blog has turned into posts about a bunch of serious topics…like how to keep your warehouse safe while working through a global pandemic. Alas, it’s time to have a blog that’s a bit (a lot) more fun.

In order to get where you want to go within the warehousing industry, it’s vital you know your history. Here are a couple of interesting historical warehousing facts you may not have known about.

Palettes are Named After their Inventor

Have you ever wondered where the word ‘palette’ comes from? Well, it may or may not shock you that it was named after a person who was fascinated by warehouses, a man named Eugene…Pallette. Eugene was actually an actor by trade, but during his free time out in Hollywood, he would visit warehouses because he thought they were interesting. During one tour, he thought how a certain wooden invention would help operations, and he drew up the makings of what we refer to as a palette today. Next, he brought his drawings to life with his own two hands, and sold the end product to warehouses. At first they were called ‘Eugenes, but they eventually were named  “Pallettes,” before eventually losing an l and becoming ‘palettes’. Pretty cool!

Some Ancient Warehouses Were Built Underground

Did you know in ancient China they built warehouses underground? The ancient Chinese folks would build them underneath sandy soil to make it easier to access. However, despite their best efforts to waterproof their warehouses, rain destroyed many of their materials. Nevertheless, many items remained and you could even find some buried treasures if you were excavating in China today.

What interesting facts do you know about the history of warehouses?

And if you’re ever in the market for reliable warehousing services or want to partner with a third party warehousing marketing business, learn how AWC can help.