DID YOU KNOW...
That the first paper drinking straws were patented in 1888

IN 1888, Marvin Stone patented the spiral winding process to manufacture the first paper drinking straws. Beverage drinkers were using the natural rye grass straws.

Stone wound strips of paper around a pencil and gluing it together. He then experimented with paraffin-coated manila paper, so the straws would not become soggy while someone was drinking. He decided the ideal straw was 8 1/2-inches long with a diameter just wide enough to prevent things like lemon seeds from being lodged in the tube.

The product was patented on January 3, 1888. In 1906, the first machine was invented by the Stone's "Stone Straw Corporation" to machine-wind straws, ending the hand-winding process.

— Compiled by Gaurav Sood

This feature was published on February 28, 2004