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Author's Note

The next time you're at a bar and need to impress someone, pull the straw out of their whiskey and soda, regaling them with the story of Joseph Friedman's invention. Not only will you get props for engaging anecdotes, but you might even find a way to get a free drink out of it.

Sources

  • Blackwell, John Reid. "VA plant produces 4B drinking straws annually." Manufacturing.net. Dec. 13, 2010. (Feb. 3, 2013) http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2010/12/va-plant-produces-4b-drinking-straws-annually
  • Broda-Bahm, Chris. "The straight truth about the flexible drinking straw." Smithsonian.org. 2002. (Feb. 6, 2013) http://invention.smithsonian.org/resources/online_articles_detail.aspx?id=301
  • Riley, Marianne. "Joseph B. Friedman Papers." Smithsonian Center Archives. Sept. 17, 2009. (Feb. 13, 2013) http://amhistory.si.edu/archives/d8769.htm
  • Schueller, Randy. "Drinking Straw" MadeHow.com. 2013. (Feb. 3, 2013) http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Drinking-Straw.html
  • Thompson, Derek. "The amazing history and the strange invention of the bendy straw." The Atlantic. Nov. 22, 2011. (Feb. 3, 2013) http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/11/the-amazing-history-and-the-strange-invention-of-the-bendy-straw/248923/