# When Did You First Come Across A Spork **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716 "2010-01-12T22:01:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/1 "2010-01-12T22:01:48Z")
I can’t recall ever seeing a [spork](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spork) until Taco Bell had them. But I was wondering has Taco Bell always had them? I recall we got our first Taco Bell in my area in 1976. I’m not sure if they had them at the time or not. Anyone know? Anyhow, when was the first time or where was the first place you encountered a spork. I’ve never seen them anywhere but at fast food. Anyone see one in a sit-down resturant? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/2 "2010-01-12T22:12:23Z")
Taco Bell for me too. Must have been the mid-70’s. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/3 "2010-01-12T22:15:15Z")
KFC, for as long as I can remember ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/4 "2010-01-12T22:15:45Z")
KFC, probably in the late 60’s. I don’t know if KFC invented the spork, but they were definitely an early adopter. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/5 "2010-01-12T22:22:09Z")
School cafeteria, sometime in the early 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/6 "2010-01-12T22:31:42Z")
Another vote for KFC. We got one in my hometown in the early 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/7 "2010-01-12T22:43:13Z")
I remember my grandmother having a set of [Splayds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splayd) (combination knife, fork and spoon) in the late 1960s. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/8 "2010-01-12T22:46:42Z")
KFC, at least since the 70s ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/9 "2010-01-12T22:48:03Z")
September 1971. Our school cafeteria changed over from metal utensils to plastic sporks. I distinctly remember our Vice Principal standing up in front of the whole lunch room on the first day of school holding one up high and saying, “This…is a Spork!” My world changed that day and nothing has ever been quite the same…{cue music}. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/10 "2010-01-12T22:58:37Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > KFC, for as long as I can remember Same here. Probably early '80s ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/11 "2010-01-12T22:59:00Z")
Another person who first remembers them from KFC. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/12 "2010-01-12T22:59:16Z")
KFC here too, early 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/13 "2010-01-12T23:06:40Z")
You all seriously remember the first time you saw a spork? I remember seeing them at KFC, but don’t remember if that was the first place I saw one. They’re only sporks, you know. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/14 "2010-01-12T23:13:14Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > September 1971. > > Our school cafeteria changed over from metal utensils to plastic sporks. I distinctly remember our Vice Principal standing up in front of the whole lunch room on the first day of school holding one up high and saying, “This…is a Spork!” Your school’s Vice Principal is an unsung comic genius! The [Foon](http://img.alibaba.com/photo/256023812/Slotted_spoon.jpg) never caught on either. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/15 "2010-01-12T23:20:42Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Your school’s Vice Principal is an unsung comic genius! The [Foon](http://img.alibaba.com/photo/256023812/Slotted_spoon.jpg) never caught on either. The foon is supposedly good at helping toddlers [eat without making a mess](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000056W75/babytoolkit-20). I first saw the spork at a KFC in the 70s. I was a kid. The mashed potatoes were good, but the spork doesn’t get the corners of the container very well. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/16 "2010-01-13T00:30:45Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > You all seriously remember the first time you saw a spork? Vaguely. I’m pretty sure I asked my parents about the “funny looking spoon” when we visited KFC sometime in the early 80s. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/17 "2010-01-13T00:41:08Z")
KFC here, too. What were the sporks at Taco Bell used for? I assume some kind of refried bean or something? ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/18 "2010-01-13T00:45:56Z")
KFC ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/19 "2010-01-13T00:46:21Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > School cafeteria, sometime in the early 1970s. What she said. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716/20 "2010-01-13T00:53:28Z")
school cafeteria, no amusing announcement, just the spork. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-come-across-a-spork/524716.md?page=2)