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Drinking straw

Thin tube for drinking liquids

  • 19 min read
  • 5 chapters
  • 1 lab on Lably

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Lab · Class 7–12Refraction & Optical Fibres

Disposable straws are commonly made from plastics. However, environmental concerns related to plastic pollution and new regulation have led to rise in reusable and biodegradable straws. Following a rise in regulation and public concern, some companies have voluntarily banned or reduced the number of plastic straws used. Alternative straws are often made of reusable materials like silicone or metal or alternative disposable and biodegradable materials like paper, cardboard, pasta, or bamboo.

Straws have been used since earliest recorded history, with the first extant straws dating from the 3rd millennium BCE. Different traditional drinks and foods use straws designed for explicit purposes, such as the "straw and sieve" bombilla used to drink the mate infusion common in South America. Since the early 20th century, mass-production of straws from plastic and other industrial products such as cellophane has increased the widespread availability of disposable straws.

Straws can make it safer and easier to consume liquids. They are important for people with physical disabilities that affect the ability to swallow or to hold glassware. Straws can also be important in both child and elderly care, and in recovery from certain medical procedures such as dental work. However, the use of straws may not always be advisable depending on the health situation.

History

Early examples

The first known straws were made by the Sumerians and were used for drinking beer, complemented by reusable strainer-tips to avoid the solid byproducts of fermentation that remained in the pots of unfiltered beer. Precious metal tubes discovered in Armenia in 1897, originally postulated to be scepters or canopy supports, are now believed to be the oldest surviving straws, dating to the Maykop culture (3700 to 2900 BCE). A particularly elaborate example, found in a Sumerian tomb dated 3000 BCE, was a gold tube inlaid with the precious blue stone lapis lazuli.

In the 1800s, the rye straw came into fashion because it was cheap and soft, but it had an unfortunate tendency to turn to mush when put in liquid.

American Marvin C. Stone patented the modern drinking straw, 8+1⁄2 inches long and made of paper, in 1888, to address the shortcomings of the rye straw. He came upon the idea while drinking a mint julep on a hot day in Washington, D.C.; the taste of the rye straw was mixing with the drink and giving it a grassy taste, which he found unsatisfactory. He wound paper around a pencil to make a thin tube, slid out the pencil from one end, and applied glue between the strips. He later refined it by building a machine that would coat the outside of the paper with wax to hold it together, so the glue would not dissolve in bourbon.

According to a 1925 bulletin from the National Geographic Society, the people of Jubaland (modern-day Somalia) used hollow "drinking sticks", two feet long and half an inch in diameter, to drink from the yak tree.

Early paper straws had a narrow bore, to prevent seeds from clogging them. It was common to use two of them, to reduce the effort needed to take each sip.

Mass production

Plastic straws became widespread following World War II. The materials used in their manufacture were inexpensive, and the types of restaurant fare that they accompanied had become more affordable and popular.

In 1930, Otto W. Dieffenbach Sr. developed and produced a cellophane drinking straw in Baltimore. His company known as Glassips Inc., produced straws for restaurants and other products. One patent dates to 1954. Dieffenbach served as chairman until 1972 and the business, then based in Towson, Maryland, was sold in 1979.

One of the first mass-produced twisted straw was Sip-N-See invented by Milton Dinhofer. Dinhofer originally patented his straw in the shape of a scissor with two loops on top, but Macy's would not carry the straw unless it had a character on it. They suggested Dinhofer make three straws (eventually patented in 1950): a cowboy, a clown and an animal for which he made an elephant. Each of his characters was attached to a looping soft polyethylene straw. Rexor Corp. copyrighted the straw the same year, but Macy's decided not to carry them. Dinhofer first marketed the straws with Woolworths. The straws were sold in individual boxes, and more characters were eventually added. Other buyers began to carry it, too, and it was marketed as an "action drinking toy." Sip-N-See went on to sell approximately six million units.

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