Italian businessman Enrico Mangili is often credited with inventing celebratory confetti in 1895. Back then, silkworm farmers used perforated pieces of paper as worm bedding. Mangili gathered the resulting tiny scraps and marketed them as a silly, festive item to toss during parades and celebrations.
Today’s paper confetti is a marked improvement over mud and eggs, of course, and you’ll find all kinds in the shops on Etsy. Especially when paired with other festive party supplies, confetti makes any get-together a little more memorable.