A drinking straw is a tube for moving liquid from one place to another. Before there were man-made straws, people used natural rye grass straws.

In 1888 Marvin Stone invented a straw. He placed strips of paper around a pencil from top to bottom. Then he removed the pencil. He glued the pieces of paper together. He later covered the paper with wax. That way the paper did not get soggy. The size of the opening was made small to keep lemon seeds out.

Stone’s idea of spiral tubes has been used for many other important things. It is used in making car parts. Television parts also use spiral tubes. Some hospital products use spiral tubes.

One day Joseph B Friedman watched his daughter drinking a milk shake. She was having a hard time reaching the straw. He decided put a screw inside a straw. Friedman wrapped dental floss around the screw threads. He made groves on the inside the straw. When he removed the screw, the grooves let the straw bend. The straw could then bend over the side of the drinking glass.

Today, there are straws that you can eat when you finish drinking. These straws are celery straws.