Help Needed From Those Of An Age !!

[Mamyalynne]

I have just mentioned to a person in my company that when I was young drinking straws were of a paper (albeit waxed) material - this has been met with derision.

I need confirmation please, it's not my mind slipping away from me , is it?

[Jackdaw33]

Certainly not. I remember them well. School milk and all that.

[Mamyalynne]

Phew, Ta JD.

[cupid04]

They were made of paper...they would go soggy unlike todays straws which are made of stronger stuff.

[cupid04]

Jackdaw, I was milktop monitor!

[Jackdaw33]

You could unwind them to form a long strip. Later came the bendy version before the plastic ones.

[vulcan42]

I remember those straws as well, along with the cardboard cap on the school milk bottles.

[Davemano]

In 'A brief history of the straw' it shows that paper straws were widely used until the 1960s and were then replaced by plastic etc.

[Buenchico]

They were certainly made of paper but I'm not sure that they were all wax-coated, as some types of paper are fairly water-resistant anyway. If you google for suppliers of paper drinking straws there are loads available (with no mention of wax), both in white
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Plain-White-Paper-Drinking-Straws-25-Pack-/191732834172?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368
and in pretty colours
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50-Retro-Stripe-Dot-Love-Heart-Vintage-Paper-Drinking-Straws-BUY-3-GET-1-FREE-/351554902467?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

However specifically wax-coated ones seem to only be available (at a much higher price) from specialist craft suppliers:
https://uguisustore.com/products/wax-coated-paper-drinking-straws

Wikipedia is also relevant:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_straw

[Jackdaw33]

I don't remember cardboard tops. They were foil tops through which you poked the straw. I'm talking 1950s.

[Bathsheba]

Yep Mamya, I remember them well!

Baths
x x x

[Mamyalynne]

Vindicated, thanks all.xxx

[trt]

Baths, didnt you get my 2 msg on FB this week xx

[Peter Pedant]

yes of course they were
nothing wrong with your memory

waxed paper strip which you can spiral and make a tube out of

[ told my gt nephew in front of his grandmother than teachers used to hit us in class - and you should have seen his eyes come out like organ stops ]

[dannyk13]

Quite correct Lynne, especially the ones given out with school milk.

[mazie]

My mum worked at the straw factory across the street from us. She made the paper straws . packed them in huge boxes and they were sent to the dipping room to be waxed. I can still smell that wax.

[ummmm]

I remember paper straws and I'm a 70's child.

[netibiza]

Yes they were indeed and they went soggy ( esp if like me you tried to drink hot tea with one!!)

[Peter Pedant]

yeah my hot little kiddie lips used to make them go soggy at the end
and you couldnt turn it up side down and use the other end to any advantage

[Togo]

I think that you could probably point out Mamy that not only were they once made of paper, but drinking "straws" were originally made of ............ Straw.

[Mamyalynne]

Fun thread and very informative too, thanks all - after some deliberation BA goes to Mazie as a descendant of one of our staunch straw makers.x