By Merlin Lessler —<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sitting here at the kitchen table with a ball of string in front of me. I brought it in from the garage to tie up a stack of file folders. It got me thinking; I almost never use strings. Rubber bands, Velcro straps, packing tape, masking tape, Scotch tape, duct tape, and the like have put string out to pasture; they now dominate the \u201cfastening\u201d landscape.<\/p>\n
Before then, if you wanted to mail a package, you wrapped it in paper from a grocery bag and tied it with string, securing all four sides by a knot in the middle of the top. To get it really tight, you asked someone to put their finger in the middle of the first loop of the knot so you could pull it tight, often pinching their finger in the process. But not anymore; we just slap on some packing tape, provided we can find the end that\u2019s often undetectable. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a little sad when you think about it, how this valuable invention, that archaeologists attribute to the Neanderthals since it was found at some of their burial sites, is now residing in the \u201cseldom used, old tool pile.\u201d <\/p>\n
Not that long ago, if you went to a bakery for a dozen donuts, you walked out the door carrying the box by the string it was tied up with. Butcher shops had huge spools of it on top of the meat counter to tie up your purchase. <\/p>\n
Kids in my generation and several that followed used string for everything: tying a skate key on a string around their necks (I\u2019ll explain what a skate key is at another time), using it to play cats-in-the-cradle, tying it to kites, stringing yo-yos, and many other uses. <\/p>\n
For many years, it was used as a pull chain to turn on overhead lights. Switches took over that function, but you may still find pull strings in closets and basements. People tied a piece of string around their finger as a reminder. \u201cWhat\u2019s that string for?\u201d someone might ask. \u201cOh, that. So I don\u2019t forget to mail that letter in my back pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sort of thing. I think I should tie a string around my finger. I often \u201cwalk the mail\u201d through town and back home again. And, how about people who collected pieces of string, sometimes ending up with \u201cThe biggest ball of string in Idaho,\u201d advertised as a tourist attraction on road signs along the highway. <\/p>\n
I think I\u2019ll keep that ball of string on my desk, as a sign of respect for a \u201ctool\u201d that once was so important to civilization.<\/p>\n