Nothing can be more annoying than having a piece of food stuck between our teeth. In recent years, Petroski writes, Japanese visitors to a toothpick factory were denied entry to protect "tricks of the trade."Ĭhapter One: The Oldest Habit Note: Author's footnotes have been omitted. He used the same tactic at retail stores, gradually making the toothpick a ubiquitous part of the culinary experience.īut the lowly implement has surprisingly secretive manufacturers, who guard their designs closely. He'd return to the restaurant the next day to sell his wares. The American toothpick industry owes its success to Charles Forster, a 19th-century Bostonian who hired Harvard students to demand toothpicks in restaurants. Later, in ancient Rome, the emperor Nero entered a banquet hall with a silver toothpick lodged in his mouth. Anthropologists have found evidence of grooves on fossilized teeth that resulted from rough-hewn toothpicks. In The Toothpick, Petroski, who is a professor of civil engineering and history at Duke University, chronicles the instrument's odd and funny history, taking readers back to the time of the Neanderthals. His latest book explores the history of this seemingly mundane tool - and why picking our teeth is among mankind's oldest bad habits.
These Portuguese toothpicks, made for the tourist trade, have elaborately hand-carved shafts.įor author Henry Petroski, the simplest of instruments - be it a pencil or a telephone keypad - can offer fascinating stories of engineering, design and cultural history.Įven toothpicks don't escape his inquisitive eye.
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