Tat Tuesday.

When I was in grade school the kids would play a silly game. We would pair off take our Sporks and have a competition. It was simple. You bend the tip of the handle into a right angle. Once that was done you and your competitor would take turns pulling back the handle and and releasing it. The target was the scoop part of the Spork which would be turned over revealing the bottom.The goal was to break the Spork. The winner was the first one to destroy the other's scoop. It was stupid but we didn't have Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, or even Magic the Gathering cards. This may be why I have a love Sporks. So this Tat Tuesday let's take a look at the coolest utensil ever. The Spork.

 

Cross Sporks. The flag of the kitchen Pirates.

For those unfortunate enough to have never been exposed to a Spork let me explain. A Spork is  a spoon fork hybrid. They usually have three to four prongs. There have been Spork like utensils being manufactured since the late 19th century.

Behold a collection of Sporks. Including the Devil's Spork.

 

 

 

In February 1874, Samuel W. Francis was issued a patent for a combined spoon, fork, and knife that looks very similar to the modern Spork. There have been many other patents for similar utensils. Most of these patents predate the term Spork. 

Sporks made of Titanium are the future.

On December 20, 1952 Hyde W. Ballard of Westtown, Pennsylbania filed an application to register "Spork" as a trademark. However there is no longer an record of this application at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. On October 27, 1970.

There have been lawsuits over the term Spork over the years. As of this post the term Spork is registered and remains in force. 

You know something is important when it is on a shirt.

This may seem like an odd thing to talk about, especially do to the limited amount of interesting information there is, but it actually makes sense. The Spork is the perfect example of Tat. It is unnecessary but awesome. People are even making titanium Sporks for camping and survival. I don't have one but I can see the appeal.