I often wonder why the spork isn’t a more utilized tool of eating. This hybrid utensil acts as a fork and a spoon, allowing you to not only stab and pick up your food, but shovel it as well. Last time I checked, the spork really wasn’t getting the respect it deserves. Because of this, I decided to pay a tribute to this seldom used utensil. Whether used as a marvelous eating utensil, a cult worship figure, or even decoration, the spork has brought joy to countless lives.
History of the Spork
- Sporks have been manufactured since the late 1800s. The word spork origiseveral years later.nated in the early 1900s to describe hybrid devices that were being developed to act as both a spoon and a fork.
- The first known spork was patented by George Laramy of Enfield, New Hampshire in 1907. He was a pioneer, and is now know as the pioneer and founder of the spork.
- According to a 1952 New York Times article, Hyde w. Ballard of Westtown Pennsylvania filed an application to register “Spork” as a trademark for a combination spoon and fork made of stainless steel. There is no record of this patent, however.
- The Van Brode Miling Company registered “Spork” for a combination plastic spoon, fork, and knife but abandoned the registration
Where you Can Still Find Sporks
- Various blessed school cafeterias
- Taco Bell
- Rally’s
- Kentucky Fried Chicken
- Popeye’s Fried Chicken
- Your Local 7-11 retail market
- QuickTrip Convenience Stores
- Chick-Filet’s
- Many Pre-Packaged Meals
- Hardee’s
- Lee’s Famous Recipie Chicken
- Kenny Rodgers Roasters
- Boston Market
Anatomy of the Spork
- Cranial Fossa – Large depression which spans the cranium. In native habitats, this area is used to hold food for transportation
- Rostral Processes – These projections extend from the cranium and act functionally as teeth, used to impale foods.
- Canines – Sharp, cranial projections also known as tines which are used to impale foods.
- Cranial Ridge – Ridge that makes up the lateral margins of the cranium
- Neck – The tapering, most anterior portion of the trunk.
- Dorsal Carina – Ridge that extends dorsally along the entire surface of the trunk.
- Platysmal surfaces – Flat surfaces on either side of the dorsal carina.
- Cercus – The posterior tip of the trunk.
How You Can Help Bring Sporks Back
Wear a spork shirt – http://www.zazzle.com/the_spork_shirt-235785667947487571
Stock your home with titanium sporks – http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/kitchen/8ace/
Spork bumper stickers – http://bumperstickers.cafepress.com/spork
17 comments
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March 4, 2009 at 1:38 am
An In-Depth Tribute to Sporks : Easy Idiot - get better knowledge
[...] too much about sporks? I would argue no. The rostral processes, according to John Moors of the blog My Adventures in Food, are the projections extending from the spork’s cranium (yes, it has a cranium) that act [...]
March 4, 2009 at 2:43 am
Sarah
Cranial fossa? Really? hahaha nice mix of science and food history. Next time mix in some chemistry, then you’ll be just like Alton Brown.
March 4, 2009 at 5:21 am
An In-Depth Tribute to Sporks : Easy Idiot - get better knowledge
[...] too much about sporks? I would argue no. The rostral processes, according to John Moors of the blog My Adventures in Food, are the projections extending from the spork’s cranium (yes, it has a cranium) that act [...]
Sorry… forgot to say great post – can’t wait to read your next one!
March 4, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Eyeball_Pate979
The spork is also the only utinsil you can have in your cell in most county jails.
March 5, 2009 at 12:46 am
Top Posts « WordPress.com
[...] Tribute to the Spork I often wonder why the spork isn’t a more utilized tool of eating. This hybrid utensil acts as a fork and a [...] [...]
March 5, 2009 at 5:04 am
thehangerbay
Someone once told me that its lack of reputation was due to its unwieldyness… when drinking soup. ._.
March 5, 2009 at 5:22 am
rhiannondarcy
Simply put, I thing the Spork is the single most amazing thing in the Universe.
March 5, 2009 at 5:24 am
wasacrawl
One should not forget that sporks in many cases nowadays also function as knives, as they have a sawed edge olong one side of the spoon….
March 5, 2009 at 5:33 am
faemom
Awesome. Just awesome. I have always had a love affair with the spork. I just love the name.
March 5, 2009 at 6:24 am
roninator
Informative, downright hilarious. Here in the UK we have bad teeth, a rapidly expanding number of KFCs, but sadly little to no sporkage. Shame.
March 5, 2009 at 6:47 am
Psyche
OK the spork sucks. It is the worst of both worlds, it makes a lousy fork as the tines are too short to do any good food stabbing and the spoon section will not hold a vast amount of liquid as the tines on the fork allow it to sieve out the front of the device.
Also as Eyeball wrote the spork is the utensil of choice for jails. The institutional ones we get up here in the great northwest even have a makeshift cutting edge on one side of the spoon (almost allowing for cutting of a soggy chicken patty except the handle is too flimsy) making it triple fail. I think the spork is a favorite of cheap management as they don’t have to buy more than one utensil. Utensil of the Gods? Please. Formidable Weapon? I’ll take a plastic butter knife over a flimsy spork any day.
March 5, 2009 at 9:56 am
Glad
very cool post
March 5, 2009 at 1:12 pm
againseminoma
Why do we not make more use of the superior utensil? Just etiquette stopping us?
March 5, 2009 at 1:58 pm
moorsfood
Hating on the spork, Psyche? Damn, I never thought I would see that.
March 5, 2009 at 2:00 pm
When Giants Meet
Ha ha, too awesome. The Spork really gets the end of the stick, and not many fully realize what they just used!
Spork for the people!!
March 5, 2009 at 4:30 pm
jared connell
All hail the spork!
March 6, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Sporks « Bacon Doughnuts
[...] How oft we minimize the utensil value of the spork. Life is better, the is sky bluer, and eating pancakes half-submerged in puddles of syrup is easier because of the spork. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Tribute to the Spork [...]