Short history on chopsticks, knives, spoons, forks, skewers, toothpicks
April 7, 2020 10:07 AM   Subscribe

If you find yourself with more time to ponder your utensils, Eating Utensils.net may be the site for you. Not too detailed, but just enough to whet your informational appetite. There's the history of cutlery (fork, spoon, and knife), plus other eating utensils (chopsticks, skewers, toothpicks, and drinking straws). To round out the collection, there's also a timeline of eating utensils and more facts.

But if you're interested in deep dives, there's always Wikpedia, vaguely listed in the age of the first recorded or known use or example:
posted by filthy light thief (9 comments total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
Inspired by a new Smithsonian listicle-type article, Ten Surprising Facts About Everyday Household Objects, and the fact that there's a Eating Utensils.net at all.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:08 AM on April 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


I'm still using this pair of cooking-size chopsticks that came with the wok I bought in the early 1980s. They're a little shorter now, but should be good for another 20 years!
posted by sneebler at 11:15 AM on April 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


Whet.
posted by scamper at 11:51 AM on April 7, 2020


The obligatory Grand Unification of Cutlery.
posted by foonly at 11:58 AM on April 7, 2020 [2 favorites]


Unified Knife/ Fork with Spoon Handle

Vintage multi-utensil

Outside Online: 5 multi-use camp utensils we love

Funky soundtrack by Plate Fork Knife Spoon (track on YouTube; Discogs).
posted by filthy light thief at 12:23 PM on April 7, 2020


While you're at it, make an edible plate!
posted by parmanparman at 12:45 PM on April 7, 2020


Now this post is just making me sad as shopping for esoteric cooking and eating implements was supposed to be a highlight of my japan trip that didnt happen because of this fucking virus.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 1:47 PM on April 7, 2020


Please see also: kuàizi, hashi.
posted by Splunge at 1:54 PM on April 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


I was curious when "spoon" became separate from "cup with a handle", but the archaeology of cups seems surprisingly light. Surely they must have been made before Mesopotamia, but that is the oldest reference I found in a quick google.
posted by tavella at 2:02 PM on April 7, 2020


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