“A box of . . . Ideal toothpicks from the mid-1960s carries on its bottom this telegraphic legend: ‘The only Toothpick tapered thin—polished—removes food particles from between closely set teeth.’ A flat toothpick bought today is likely to have been stamped out of veneer that has not first been beveled or skived. The result is a thin little stick with blunt ends that hardly deserves the name toothpick. It is typically very ineffective for fine picking, though it may still serve for chewing.”

—Henry Petroski, The Toothpick; Technology and Culture, 2007.