Small size (about 2″) means they take up less room.Collectors love them, but why? Because of their: Why Collecting Toothpicks is PopularĮven when glassware in general grew less popular in the 2000’s, toothpicks tended to retain their value. And restaurantware examples entered the market at about the same time. Japanese companies entered the market in the 1950’s with all sorts of novelty shapes, some of which you’ll see below. Manufacturers in Germany and Eastern Europe, in particular, began producing delicate china examples. While you can generally find more glass toothpicks out in the wild, you should definitely keep a sharp eye out for ceramic examples too.Ĭompanies that produced fine china noticed the popularity of glass toothpicks and jumped on the bandwagon later in the 19th century. While most commonly found in short, cylindrical shapes, toothpicks came in many others–animals, boots, and vase shapes, for example, and in numerous patterns, including the hobnail, daisy & button, and moon & stars. Ultimately you could find pattern (pressed) and cut glass holders in every color of the rainbow and in various custom formulations like custard, opalescent, milk, and satin glass. Once machine-made toothpicks became widely available, it didn’t take long for glass and china manufacturers to add toothpick holders to their inventories. Click the link to read the first chapter of the book. If you’d like to dive even deeper into toothpick lore, consider Henry Petroski’s book on the topic, The Toothpick. Of course the owners, who’d been recently humiliated about having no guest toothpicks, would make a purchase, Slate. Later Forster would drop by the restaurants and make a pitch for his toothpicks. Upon finishing their meal, they’d ask for a toothpick and then complain loudly when they learned that the restaurant had none available. The quill, whisker, or whittled pick would have to do.īut in 1869 a wooden toothpick-making machine was invented and Charles Forster, a marketing genius, acquired rights to the patent.Īs the story goes, he hired a group of Harvard students to eat at various restaurants. The average man or woman on the street could never afford such a luxury. But from the 16th century through the Victorian period, wealthy men and women had access to reusable gold, silver, or ivory toothpicks that came with matching cases.įor a woman, the case might be attached to her “chatelaine” secured around her waist and for a man, on his watch fob. Through the ages, pocket industries of toothpick whittlers have popped up regularly. After all, who doesn’t like to have clean teeth? The use of bird quills, walrus whiskers, and hand-whittled toothpicks dates back thousands of years.

Collectors of these antiques refer to them simply as “toothpicks.”

Once machine-made toothpicks became widely available in the mid-1800’s, the need for a “holder” arose, and before too long hundreds of toothpick holders in all sorts of colors and shapes came on the market. Hi there! Whether you use them to pick up an appetizer, test the doneness of a cake, or clean your teeth, these handy little devices are used world-wide.

Radium glass toothpick holder with bird