When I think of blinds, I often think of those old metal blinds that were put together with string. There were very noisy and seemed to break often. But, did you know that the first blinds were probably made by the Egyptians out of reeds strung together to cover the windows so that bugs and dust could not get in. Ancient Chinese cultures did the same thing with bamboo. Both of these must have looked similar to the bamboo blinds that are popular today.

In the 18th century, blinds were used to cover wooden shutters. In the 1950s, they were made of metal and today you can find blinds made from vinyl, wood, bamboo and other materials.