I think this may be a distortion of the intent and spirit of the Great Cecil’s concept of The Straight Dope, but I really need some help, dopers: Don’t they make paper drinking straws anymore? If they do, how can I get some? Not on the web by my search. Not e-bay. Where? (I’m doing an activity with a college class and I NEED them.) thanks.
Stone Industrial originally patented the spiral paper drinking straw (see link). So you might contact them and see if they still make the things or who might. Good luck, I haven’t seen any in years.
Paper straws = yea
but not for drinking with.
u can get paper straws from arts/crafts shops. But i dont think they are what you want ( Mind you, i’ve never tried drinking through one.)
For those who lament the passing of the paper drinking straw, or wonder why one shoelace always breaks before the other one, or wish to break down their thought processes to give a yearly analysis ordered by frequency, or are just interested in the minutiae of life in general, I give you The Mezzanine, a wonderful book by A Great American, Nicholson Baker.
Reviewed here.
…I recommend thinking for ten seconds about what a pain they were.
Not to be nosey, but I have to know, CC why do you want them? I hope not to drink out of. They were terrible.
I know some people were concerned by the environmental impact of thrown-out plastic drinking straws (paper straws would tend to degrade a bit more quickly).
I still have a few boxes left. I don’t remember where I got them, but I’m sure it was a long time ago. I actually use them occasionally when I run out of plastic ones.
You might try an art supply store. Although they may not be waxed, and therefore useless for drinking thru. Sweetheart paper products company apparently stopped producing them a few years ago.
Well, pkbites, we make them into sound makers by pinching the end, and snipping off a smidgeon off each side of the flattened tip, forming a double reed, of sorts. Then, by putting that end into your mouth, and blowing, you can make a silly buzzing tone. Then, to demonstrate that the pitch of the tone is dependent in part on the length of the straw - or whatever is making the sound - you take a pair of scissors and start snipping off the end while you’re blowing. The pitch jumps up every time you shorten the straw. It’s fun, funny, a terrific illustration of the principle, and I CAN’T FIND ANY PAPER STRAWS TO DO THIS WITH!!! Yes, of course you can do it with plastic, but that’s no where near as easy and they aren’t as dependable. Help!
I went to a zoo in Montreal that only had paper straws so that the animals wouldn’t choke on them. So, I assume that they’re still made.
I was able to find this company via a Google search. They were the first to make paper drinking straws and still make paper tubes of all shapes and sizes from the looks of their page. You might want to drop them a line and see what they can hook you up with. (Be sure to mention it’s for an educational purpose and they might not stipulate that you order a palletful or something.)
Actually, I didn’t think they were waxed. At least, none of the ones I ever used were. That’s why they quickly stuck to your lips, got saturated with liquid and fell apart. (And were quickly replaced by plastic.)
How did the waxed variety hold up to use?
You can still buy them in England (its part of our olde worlde charm you see). You can get them from The British Disposable Products Association (Must be fun at their Christmas parties)
here:
They’re still pants to drink through though (note charming olde worlde spelling)
pants???
pants n. [1990’s] nonsense, rubbish. [var. on knickers!]
Source: Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang.
note charming olde worlde vulgarity 