The Flexible Drinking Straw is younger than John McCain.
I’m not sure what I love more - the original sketch shown above (clearly drawn from a place of frustration with the limited beverage induction methods of the day) or the detailed description of the thought process behind the invention that was posted on the website of the National Museum of American History.
“While sitting in his younger brother Albert’s fountain parlor, the Varsity Sweet Shop in San Francisco, Friedman observed his young daughter Judith at the counter, struggling to drink out of a straight straw. He took a paper straight straw, inserted a screw and using dental floss, he wrapped the paper into the screw threads, creating corrugations. After removing the screw, the altered paper straw would bend conveniently over the edge of the glass, allowing small children to better reach their beverages.”
Two additional comments:
1. I am now convinced that there is absolutely nothing that is not on the Internet.
2. John McCain is really freaking old.
(Thanks to Troy for the tip!)
That…
That is all kinds of awesome.
Comment by Mandy — July 30, 2008 @ 9:05 pm
1, exactly. Necessity really is the mother of invention…
Comment by cynmac — July 30, 2008 @ 9:07 pm
I wonder if paper straws are more or less recyclable than plastic ones. If nothing else, I think we could do a lot more to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by reducing the amount of plastic we use, and don’t always recycle. Beats the pants off of off shore drilling’s promise of a 1% increase in domestic production 10 years from now. McCain is older than common sense.
Comment by Dan — July 30, 2008 @ 10:42 pm
When I found this bit, it made me outraged at the deceit. I always KNEW that skeevy elevator operator in The Hudsucker Proxy stole his idea from somewhere.
Comment by Troy — July 30, 2008 @ 11:28 pm
i hate straws period. bah humbug. kill the planet so you can have fun drinking.
Comment by pansypoo — July 31, 2008 @ 12:42 am
Umm, just how long was the kid fighting with that thing, that he had time to get a screw long enough, and thin enough, to insert into the straw, and also find a piece of dental floss, and wrap it around the straw, already?
Comment by Marc S. — July 31, 2008 @ 12:45 am
Uh, by the way, Joe, you forgot to include “Thanks to Troy for the tip” at the end of this entry. Hrmph.
Now if I tell all my friends that I had a tip go up on TYTMcC, they’ll all call me a liar and I’ll have to kill them.
Comment by Troy — July 31, 2008 @ 10:38 am
troy-
i had it there in one of the earlier drafts….must have deleted it by mistake - really!
wrong righted - and a thousand pardons please.
- joe
ps: i love that the site is getting acronym’d: TYTMcC. nice.
Comment by admin — July 31, 2008 @ 10:58 am
6,
yes, clearly albert (sweet shop owner) and joseph (inventor) got the smart genes in the friedman family…
Comment by admin — July 31, 2008 @ 11:00 am
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