Toothpicks might seem pretty ordinary, but they are quite extraordinary. For one, these tiny tools predate modern humans. Scientists have found evidence that even Neanderthals used tools to pick their teeth.
Fascinatingly, there was a time when toothpicks were considered a fancy status symbol. By the Medieval period, the powerful and wealthy would carry around toothpicks made of gold or silver in fancy cases to distinguish themselves from commoners. Those who couldn’t afford such expensive toothpicks made their own from bird feathers, deer bone, and walrus whiskers. People back then considered wood unsuitable because it softened when wet or splintered.
An American entrepreneur named Charles Forster played a prominent role in making toothpicks ubiquitous. He built a machine that could mass-produce millions of toothpicks in a day. But Americans were uninterested in buying toothpicks when they could make their own. Forster had to get creative, even hiring Harvard students to ask for toothpicks at restaurants to create an artificial demand. Forster nearly singlehandedly created a growing market for mass-produced wooden toothpicks!
Hannah Kim For The Junior Times
1. What is the historical significance of toothpicks mentioned in the passage?
2. How far back in history do toothpicks date, and who were known to use them, according to scientists?
3. Who played a crucial role in popularizing mass-produced toothpicks, and what method did he employ to create demand for them?
1. In what ways do the historical uses of toothpicks reflect societal attitudes towards oral hygiene and personal grooming?
2. How did the materials and designs of toothpicks contribute to their symbolic significance as status symbols during the Medieval period?
3. Discuss the role of Charles Forster in the popularization of toothpicks. How did his marketing strategies impact consumer behavior?
4. Considering the unconventional methods used by Forster to create demand for toothpicks, what does this reveal about the challenges of introducing new products to the market?
Toothpicks might seem pretty ordinary, but they are quite extraordinary. For one, these tiny tools predate modern humans. Scientists have found evidence that even Neanderthals used tools to pick their teeth.
