3rd January: Drinking Straw Day
Thanks to Marvin Stone, the drinking straw was patented on January 3rd, 1888.
So how did drinking straws as we know them come to be? It all started in 1888. Before we had the plastic straws of today there were paper straws, and before that beverages were sipped via a tube of natural rye grass. Marvin Stone was tired of all of his drinks tasting of grass, so he put his thinking cap on and came up with a solution: paper straws. He wrapped a piece of paper around a pencil to create a tube, removed the pencil, and then glued the tube together.
Stone owned a paper cigarette holder company, which surely helped lead to his innovation of the straw. Once the paper straw tested well with local drinking establishments Stone upgraded his technique. He began wrapping manila paper into a tube and then coating it with paraffin wax, creating a much stronger straw than the original paper and glue. This model was patented on January 3rd, 1888. Two years later Stone was selling more straws than cigarette holders. In 1906 a machine was invented to roll the straws instead of rolling them all by hand, and the rest is history.
Thanks to Marvin Stone, the drinking straw was patented on January 3rd, 1888.
So how did drinking straws as we know them come to be? It all started in 1888. Before we had the plastic straws of today there were paper straws, and before that beverages were sipped via a tube of natural rye grass. Marvin Stone was tired of all of his drinks tasting of grass, so he put his thinking cap on and came up with a solution: paper straws. He wrapped a piece of paper around a pencil to create a tube, removed the pencil, and then glued the tube together.
Stone owned a paper cigarette holder company, which surely helped lead to his innovation of the straw. Once the paper straw tested well with local drinking establishments Stone upgraded his technique. He began wrapping manila paper into a tube and then coating it with paraffin wax, creating a much stronger straw than the original paper and glue. This model was patented on January 3rd, 1888. Two years later Stone was selling more straws than cigarette holders. In 1906 a machine was invented to roll the straws instead of rolling them all by hand, and the rest is history.
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