Toothpick in the mouth. A cinema trope

Cafe Society
1

When did a toothpick in the mouth become a thing in movies and TV. What was it trying to signify. That somehow it looks cool?

I find it annoying to see an actor doing it on the screen. So a few questions

What is the term for it?
Is it only male actors on screens?
Does it even happen in real life with anywhere in the same frequency as on the screen?
Is it only an American thing?
Do Americans think it is cool?
Is it connected to any single race?
Is there any benefit to keeping a stick in your mouth when speaking?

2

I think it’s supposed to look cool, like cigarette smoking or wearing sunglasses. I see people in the US doing it sometimes, but not often.

Unless you’re into piercings, I don’t think there’s a benefit to keeping a stick in your mouth when speaking.

3

For some reason this is super annoying to me, to the point where if there is a character that does this regularly, I wouldn’t watch it. It’s like fingernails on a chalkboard.

4

I had to stop doing it when cars started being equipped with airbags

5

I knew several cowboys and men in related professions who did this. Younger men. Maybe they got it from the movies.

6

My grandfather (1918-1992) used to keep a toothpick in his mouth constantly. No special reason why (it wasn’t a cigarette sub or anything), it was just something he did. To this day, if my cousins and I mention our grandparents, the toothpick is one of the first things someone says.

7

I remember they used to have flavored toothpicks just for people like that I was always told it was a cowboy thing you either smoked or had a toothpick habit … although in some places it used to be an old-style match stick

But for some reason in the 30s, it also became a thing in gangster movies …

8

It seems to be associated with cynicism,and maybe the reason for that was bad teeth or a bad bite. Next time I watch a film noir, I will be looking for the toothpick chewing guy.

9

The grizzled, existentially lost have always had this weird soft spot for regular dental hygiene.

10

As teens in the eighties kids at our school used to flavor our own toothpicks with cinnamon oil and walk around with them hanging out of our mouths. I can’t recall why we did this/where we picked it up.

11

What is the term for it?

“A toothpick in the mouth.”

Is it only male actors on screens?

I’ve never seen a woman in a movie do this.

Does it even happen in real life with anywhere in the same frequency as on the screen?

No.

Do Americans think it is cool?

No. It’s one of those things that looks cool on screen and looks lame in real life. I’ve seen a person suck on toothpicks once, and that was back in high school. It’s not a common thing.

12

“Is that a toothpick in your mouth, or has your brain just declared a dividend?”

13

Concurring with other posters – it’s very much a movie trope, particularly to signify a tough-guy character, but it’s an exceptionally uncommon thing to see someone doing so in real life today (and I’m not at all sure that it ever was a common thing IRL).

That said, in the 1970s and 1980s, the Kansas City Royals had a shortstop named U.L. Washington, who was known for always having a toothpick in his mouth, including while batting.

14

TCM showed 1953’s Crime Wave last night during the Noir Alley show, and anti-hero Sterling Hayden explained this explicitly. He said he’d had a cigarette habit that his doctor had convinced him would kill him, and he chewed on toothpicks as a substitute for the cigarettes.

The actual dialog (according to IMDB):

15

Det. Neal Washington in Hill street Blues always had a toothpick in his mouth. When he was shot, his partner JD brought him one while he was in the hospital.

I think it goes back to gangster films of the '20s and '30s. Didn’t George Raft usually have a toothpick (or maybe a matchstick?) in his mouth?

16

Rapid Roy:

17

For probably 40 years I will occasionally go around with a toothpick in my mouth. After I have a meal in restaurant I will take one of the toothpicks next to the cash register when paying my bill.

Why? To clean food bits from my teeth. Well, a good cleaning takes several minutes and if I am in a conversation then I can’t pick my teeth at the moment. So the toothpick sits in my mouth until I can get around to finishing the job. Depending on circumstances this may take several tens of minutes. Then, once I’m done cleaning, it might be a while before I’m in a place where I can dispose of the toothpick. Yep, I’m the kind of guy who will not toss my spittle covered toothpick on your living room floor or shove it between they seats of your car. I’m weird that way.

What bothers me as much as the OP is bothered by seeing toothpicks is having a conversation with a person with bits of food stuck in their teeth. I’m weird that way. Certainly I don’t want to be the guy with bits of food stuck in my teeth when I’m conversing with others.

Otherwise I can tell you from experience that yes, in some times and places a toothpick in the corner of your mouth was considered cool. Will just take someone like Justin Bieber doing it to make it a fad and then everyone will be doing it.

18

My nephew, searching for an identity, tried that for a while in high school in the 90s. Also, card tricks. He might still be a virgin.

19

Oliver Peck, who was a longtime judge on the tattoo competition show Ink Master, is famous for always having a toothpick in his mouth.

20

Perhaps just an imitation of the (even older?) habit of farmers and cowboys chewing on a piece of grass straw. Example photo.

Google image search showing many others.