History of the Drinking Straw

It is one of the most ubiquitous objects in human history, and one of the least examined. The drinking straw has been with us for at least five thousand years — the earliest known example was found in a Sumerian tomb, made of gold and lapis lazuli. Since then, it has been made of rye grass, paper, plastic, metal, bamboo, and glass. It has been the subject of patents, lawsuits, environmental campaigns, and municipal bans.

History of the Drinking Straw traces the full arc of this remarkable object — from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia, through the industrial revolution that made it ubiquitous, to the modern moment in which it has become a flashpoint in the global conversation about plastic and sustainability.

This is a book about more than straws. It is a book about how the most ordinary objects carry within them the full weight of human history — and what we can learn about ourselves by paying attention to the things we usually overlook.