no.17 - The Three Tined Fork

For a god commanding ocean and sea, perhaps three prongs make sense. For a farmer bailing hay or a devil tormenting souls, so too do three prongs seem appropriate.

But three prongs no longer have any place at the dinner table.

What skimpy silverware manufacturer has felt this was the way to save money? Does that single tine of silver cost so much?

But according to Henry Petroski's The Evolution Of Useful Things, the three tined fork is nothing more than a throwback on the evolutionary chain that started with the knife, gave rise to a dual pronged fork and which will no doubt, at some extravagant time in the future, lead to a fork with five tines.

Being rooted firmly in the present, I would prefer elegance of my four prongs, but I am ready for the future if this is how it comes. I will not, however, accept this Neanderthal fork near my plate, unless it is the giant one my mother uses to serve turkey on thanksgiving.

-as suggested by Moira from Dreamdogsart