we take the packaging our food comes in for granted. yet many of the boxes, bags and bottles that protect our edibles were once groundbreaking &mdash both in their design and in how they changed our perception of what&39s inside. sometimes, packaging is so distinctive, it transforms food from mere consumer product to cultural icon. as stephen heller, author of more than 100 books on design and popular culture, says, "cocacola is not a bottle of soda &mdash it&39s cocacola."here, we&39ve curated a list of some of the best examples of food packaging design over the past century, with help from experts in the field.ariel zambelichnprtootsie roll 1960sit&39s hard to imagine any other sweet treat residing inside the tootsie roll wrapper. though the candy itself is often overlooked these days, its wrapping is iconic &mdash from its colors to its recognizable font, cooper black. "it&39s a chewy, dark font that perfectly reflects the tootsie roll candy," says ellen lupton, senior curator at the smithsonian&39s cooperhewitt, national design museum.ariel zambelichnprcocacola glass bottle 1915the cocacola co. commissioned this contoured bottle to distinguish its drink from those of competitors angling for a piece of the cola business. long before cocacola was associated with the color red, the clear glass bottle was etched with the brand&39s name in the scripted font the company has used for a full century. this year marks the 100th anniversary of that design, which remains instantly recognizable. when asked to define the principles of good design, andrea lipps, assistant curator at cooperhewitt, listed memorability, legibility and noticeability. those three qualities certainly describe this product &mdash ubiquitous not just on grocery shelves but in pop culture, gracing everything from andy warhol&39s art to elvis presley&39s lips.ariel zambelichnprpringles 1968"they changed the way chips were looked upon," says heller, cochair of the master in fine arts design program at the school of visual arts in new york. the pringles can and the saddleshaped chips inside were invented as a way to solve the problem of broken chips that wind up in the bottom of every bag. the ease of grabbing your next pringle from the can puts the focus on the food and eating experience, rather than on the hunt for a chip that&39s still in one piece.ariel zambelichnprjiffy pop 1959after scaling up production of aluminum during world war ii, manufacturers struggled to find uses for it &mdash especially in food. but jiffy pop and other consumer products soon made aluminum a familiar part of the home. predating the countertop microwave by about a decade, jiffy pop was the first product to act as both a container and tool for cooking popcorn. you could place the heavy aluminum right on top of the stove and pop away. "you&39re part of the magic of watching this package transform for you," says matthew bird, an industrial designer and assistant professor at the rhode island school of design. he adds "transformation through use is a powerful piece of psychology, and it&39s very hard to use intentionally in packaging."ariel zambelichnprjif lemon juice 1954one of the first items to introduce plastic into the food aisles came in the form of a lemon. though citrus might seem like an odd way to ring in the exciting new world of plastics, the high acidity of the juice meant that, before then, buyers could only get it in glass bottles. "it&39s so engaging because it&39s the wrong material &mdash it looks like a lemon but it&39s plastic," says bird. the distinctive mold was created by carving out the shape, then imprinting a fresh lemon peel on top to give it a more natural texture.ariel zambelichnprmorton salt 1914though the morton salt container celebrated its centennial last year, it still deserves a place on this list for its iconic illustration of a girl with an umbrella. "brands today can&39t touch this kind of magic," lupton says. "it married a memorable, almost philosophically dense advertising slogan with a beautiful, functional package."the image also reflects the product&39s slogan, "when it rains it pours." in fact, the union of advertising and packaging is so effective that, in popular speech, the expression crafted by morton&39s ad men has all but replaced the proverb it was modeled after "it never rains but it pours."ariel zambelichnprkikkoman 1961"it has stood the test of time as far as design that so supremely performs its function," says lipps of the soy sauce bottle designed by the late kenji ekuan. the clear glass allows you to see exactly how much is left inside, while the red, dripless spout is both functional and adds a splash of color. the design also complements the way we use soy sauce &mdash letting the liquid out in small quantities to avoid accidentally drenching our food. it&39s considered such an icon of form and function that the kikkoman bottle is part of the museum of modern art&39s collection. 
