Not the inventor of the spork concept perhaps (apparently there are a number of contenders going back to the 19th century) but Sheffield steel manufacturers Firth made 'Spork' a trade mark and took out an early (1931) patent for the design. 'Staybrite' was the name given by the company for the high chromium content steel their resident genius Harry Brearley had invented when seeking a corrosion-resistant stainless steel for gun barrels. Not successful for guns, it proved a winner when used to make cutlery. The patent The production version has dispensed with the "recess D ... in the back of the bowl portion to receive peas", suggesting that the etiquette of carrying peas crushed by the knife on the 'correct' side of a conventional fork to the mouth was initially influential on the design. Common sense prevailed, getting rid of 'recess D' in favour of a relaxation of archaic etiquette, encouraging the use of the spoon part of the Spork to shovel up peas. John
John, you never cease to amaze me! Another lesson in history that has been well researched and professionally presented. You are always showing us something new.
another fascinating post, 1931!! better crafted than the modern ones i have tried, never cared much for sporks kind of a rubbish spoon and a rubbish fork combined in one not very good implement i like to shovel food in when out and about and much prefer separate spanners and that is just to spikey more posts please maestro - winter draws on and thermal socks too - more of your academic style ( and yet enjoyable ) will lighten the gloomy evenings under heathrow corridor, speaking of jets staybrite jogs a few brain cells, did sir frank whittle use it in his engines perhaps or something similar around that period 1930s ish
By the 1800s, terrapin forks (for eating turtles) and ice cream forks featured the typical spork shape — a spoonlike bowl that extends into tines. (These, of course, were made of silver, not plastic.) A Rhode Island doctor named Samuel W. Francis filed an early patent for a sporklike utensil in 1874. Titled “Combined Knives, Forks and Spoons,” it featured a spoon with tines sticking out the front end and a blade tacked onto one side. “The three elements,” Francis wrote, “are thus grouped together most compactly, constituting an article which can be very conveniently used for many purposes.”
This would be my assessment as well. Add a knife to the other end and it's even more worthless. How can you hold down the piece to be cut with the spork end and cut it with the knife end? It is interesting that the Americans patented this terrible idea in 1874. Then some 60 years later the Brits resurrected and improved upon the design by losing the knife. This turned a terrible idea into one that's simply bad. Such is progress I suppose. Ben
This looks more like weapon than an eating utensil.Those tines look sharp. Actually come to think of it...this would be a useful tool in a bug out bag. A miniature shovel. Everyone needs a shovel. I can think of a few other uses for it now.