Re:Tooth-Pick (1891) [pdf]
by anonu on Thursday June 30, 2022 @09:05AM
(#31931864)
Nice to see that dumb patents are not constrained to recent times.
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Re:Tooth-Pick (1891) [pdf]
by patpending on Thursday June 30, 2022 @10:48AM
(#31933026)
Not at all dumb. Source: I worked summers making toothpicks in one of the Forster mills (the name is in the patent). Toothpick making was big business in Maine until the late 1970's. It's mostly done overseas now.
https://www.amazon.com/Toothpick-Technology-Culture-Henry-Pe...
Manufactured wood toothpicks were actually a new thing. Previously, after a meal people would take a stick and whittle it to a rough point and then after a little bit of use it would get mushy and they would effectively brush their teeth with it.
I mean, yes, it is dumb. But the patent is for the manufacturing process as applied to toothpicks. It's not for the invention of The Toothpick
Is it really so obvious that compressing soft wood would produce a better toothpick?
It is not.