X was invented in 1957 by engineers Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes. Fielding and Chavannes sealed two shower curtains together, creating a smattering of air bubbles, which they originally tried to sell as wallpaper.When the product turned out to be unsuccessful as wallpaper, the team marketed it as greenhouse insulation. Although X was branded by Y Corporation (founded by Fielding and Chavannes) in 1960, it was not until a few years later that its use in protective packaging was discovered. As a packaging material, X,s first client was IBM, which used the product to protect the IBM 1401 computer during shipment. Fielding and Chavannes were inducted into the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame in 1993. Y celebrated X's 50th birthday in January 2010.ID X &Y.