History
In 1888, Marvin Stone patented the spiral winding process to manufacture the
first paper drinking straws. Stone was already a manufacturer of paper cigarette
holders. His idea was to make paper drinking straws. Before his straws, beverage
drinkers were using the natural rye grass straws.
Stone made his prototype straw by winding strips of paper around a pencil
and gluing it together. He then experimented with paraffin-coated manila paper, so
the straws would not become soggy while someone was drinking. Marvin Stone decided
the ideal straw was 8 1/2-inches long with a diameter just wide enough to prevent
things like lemon seeds from being lodged in the tube.
The product was patented on January the 3rd, 1888. By 1890, his factory was
producing more straws than cigarette holders. In 1906, the first machine was invented
by the Stone's "Stone Straw Corporation" to machine-wind straws, ending the hand-winding
process. Later other kinds of spiral-wound paper and non-paper products were made.
In 1928, electrical engineers began to use spiral-wound tubes in the first mass
produced radios. All made by the same process invented by Stone. Spiral-wound tubing
is now found everywhere -- in electric motors, electrical apparatus, electronic devices,
electronic components, aerospace, textile, automotive, fuses, batteries, transformers,
pyrotechnics, medical packaging, product protection, and packaging applications.