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 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.

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17 comments

[…] 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 […]

[…] 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!

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.

[…] 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 […]